And what a bag of lemon drops they were…

Born in a “shabby brownstone” in New York City, beloved artist Norman Perceval Rockwell (1894–1978) recognized his “natural artistic ability” early and enrolled in art classes at age 14.

“The poorer the picture, the better the frame,” he once said.

In 1916, with creative longing and youthful courage, he approached The Saturday Evening Post with a drawing for their cover—and was immediately accepted. “In those days,” he explained, “the cover of the Post was... the greatest show window in America for an illustrator. If you did a cover for the Post, you had arrived.”

For the next 55 years, Rockwell illustrated the Post’s covers—about seven a year—capturing everyday American life with heartfelt detail and timeless charm.

With inspiration that he said “lit up the inside of [his] head like a flash of lightning in a dark sky,” he also illustrated Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn and Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.

“Without thinking too much about it in specific terms,” Rockwell reflected, “I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed.” He believed that an illustrator could spotlight what had become so familiar that it was no longer seen.

Finding beauty in everyday moments, Rockwell created emotional realism in his art. He made you feel for his characters—they were real, full of personality and heart. He made you look and love deeper.