Norman Rockwell Quotes (35 Quotes)


    My best efforts were some modern things that looked like very lousy Matisses. Thank God I had the sense to realize they were lousy, and leave Paris.

    When I go to farms or little towns, I am always surprised at the discontent I find. And New York, too often, has looked across the sea toward Europe. And all of us who turn our eyes away from what we have are missing life.

    Eisenhower had about the most expressive face I ever painted, I guess. Just like an actor's. Very mobile. When he talked, he used all the facial muscles. And he had a great, wide mouth that I liked. When he smiled, it was just like the sun came out.

    Some people have been kind enough to call me a fine artist. I've always called myself an illustrator. I'm not sure what the difference is. All I know is that whatever type of work I do, I try to give it my very best. Art has been my life.

    The '20s ended in an era of extravagance, sort of like the one we're in now. There was a big crash, but then the country picked itself up again, and we had some great years. Those were the days when American believed in itself. I was happy and proud to be painting it.


    I'd be painting sometimes, and get the strangest feeling I was being watched. I'd look up and see faces pressed against the window or door screens. Then, when I noticed them, the people would want to come in and talk to me. Got very upset, too, when I was too busy. One time I remember a man drove his car clear across our lawn and parked it right in the middle of the grass. It was wild.

    I had a couple of million dollars' worth of... stock once. And now it's not worth much more than wallpaper. I guess I just wasn't born to be rich.

    You must first spend some time getting your model to relax. Then you'll get a natural expression.


    A face in the picture would bother me, so I'd rub it out with the turpentine and do it over.

    I talk as I sketch, too, in order to keep their minds off what I'm doing so I'll get the most natural expression I can from them. Also, the talking helps to size up the subject's personality, so I can figure out better how to portray him.

    Travel is like a tonic to me. It's more than just getting away from the studio for a brief rest. I need it to recharge my batteries.


    We got a good look at the Himalayas, which they tell me are about 28,000 feet high. I expected to be very impressed, but really, they didn't look any more picturesque to me than the Berkshires or the Green Mountains. Certainly not as pleasant-looking as the wooded mountains we have in New England. I'll leave those cold and barren slopes in Asia to the mountain climbers.

    I would take the wrong approach for a teacher, I guess... But there was always someone in a class who would raise an objection to my way. They'd want to get into an argument with me. And I was no good at arguing. So I figured if that was what teaching was like, I better leave it to someone who knows how to maneuver an argument. I'd stick to what I knew-painting. So I didn't stay long at the Los Angeles County Artists School.

    It wouldn't be right for me to clown around when I'm painting a president.

    Lady Bird Johnson had that extra-special Southern charm that you just can't resist. Mrs. Goldwater was charming, too. And she was the smart one. She really didn't want to be the First Lady at all. And she got her wish.

    If you look at that picture for the 1964 election, you'll see I showed three different poses of Johnson-two of them smiling, but one of them grim, just like when we walked in that room. Lord, but those eyes of his could be cold.

    I'll never have enough time to paint all the pictures I'd like to.

    Everyone in those days expected that art students were wild, licentious characters. We didn't know how to be, but we sure were anxious to learn.

    No man with a conscience can just bat out illustrations. He's got to put all his talent and feeling into them!

    I'm not going to be caught around here for any fool celebration. To hell with birthdays!

    I'm still about as pigeon-toed as you can get. But I learned to manage pretty well on a bike. Should have had a bicycle then, when I was a kid, but our family didn't have the money for such luxuries. I saved up to buy one myself a few years later.

    I didn't know what to expect from a famous movie star; maybe that he'd be sort of stuck-up, you know. But not Gary Cooper. He horsed around so much... that I had a hard time painting him.

    Guess I never really belonged in Westchester. I was never really happy there. But the hard-dirt farmers in Vermont-when I got with them, it was like coming home.

    I learned to draw everything except glamorous women. No matter how much I tried to make them look sexy, they always ended up looking silly... or like somebody's mother.

    Here in New England, the character is strong and unshakable.

    Some folks think I painted Lincoln from life, but I haven't been around that long. Not quite.

    Very interesting for an old duffer like me to try his hand at something new. If I don't do that once in a while, I might just turn into a fossil, you know!

    It was a pretty rough neighborhood where I grew up The really tough places were over around Third Avenue where it ran into the Harlem River, but we weren't far away.

    Things aren't much wilder now, I don't think, than they were back then. Of course I just read about all the goings-on now. Ha.

    The secret to so many artists living so long is that every painting is a new adventure. So, you see, they're always looking ahead to something new and exciting. The secret is not to look back.

    Right from the beginning, I always strived to capture everything I saw as completely as possible.

    The remarks about my reaching the age of Social Security and coming to the end of the road, they jolted me. And that was good. Because I sure as hell had no intention of just sitting around for the rest of my life. So I'd whip out the paints and really go to it.

    I can take a lot of pats on the back. I love it when I get admiring letters from people. And, of course, I'd love it if the critics would notice me, too.


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