• Skip navigation and go to content
  • Go to navigation

Norman Rockwell Museum

  • Visit
    • Hours & Admission
    • Directions
    • Exhibitions
  • Learn
    • Programs
    • School Programs
    • Curriculum Lab
  • Research
    • Norman Rockwell Collection
    • Archives and Library
    • Rockwell Center for Americal Visual Studies
    • Illustration History
    • Frank Schoonover Collection Raisonné
  • Donate
    • Make a Gift
    • Become a Member
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Contact
    • Staff Directory
    • Norman Rockwell Museum e-newsletter sign-up
    • Careers
    • What's my Rockwell Worth?
      FAQ

Illustration History

  • History
  • Artists
  • Genres
  • Essays
  • Resources
  • Podcast
  • History
    • Time Periods
  • Artists
  • Genres
  • Essays
  • Resources
  • Podcast
Home > Essays

Essays in Books

Engaging essays on a wide-variety of illustration-based subjects by knowledgable authors, scholars, artists, and students can be explored here.

Bascove’s Shifting Perspective

Steven Heller | March 7, 2022 - Bascove’s work was in high demand among those art directors who appreciated the strength of her black print technique.

Norman Rockwell: The Rising Tide - Live Webinar

Stephanie Haboush Plunkett | September 13, 2021 - This event is organized by the Appraisers Association. September 20, 2021 | 1:00 - 2:00 PM EST

The Red Rose Girls: An alliance for artistic success

Barbara Rundback Venus van Ness | March 8, 2021 - During an era when women were expected to get married, raise children, and manage a household, Elizabeth Shippen Green (1871-1954), Jessie Wilcox Smith (1863-1935), and Violet Oakley (1874-1961) chose to pursue careers in the arts.

Constructing New Meaning in Children’s Books: The Work of Faith Ringgold, Jerry Pinkney, and Vashti Harrison

Lee Price | February 23, 2021 - This essay focuses on the ways Black creatives have utilized the medium of children’s books to construct positive imagery, meaning, purpose, and pride.

Belonging to the Realm of Ideas: A Look at Goya In Comparison to the Modern Day Illustration Practices of Andrea Kowch, Amy Cutler, and Shaun Tan

Jordan Cannon | January 14, 2021 - Francisco Goya utilized fantastical elements to critique, communicate, and introspect. Today, Kowch, Cutler, and Tan exhibit these same focuses within their art through the development of their own magical realities.

How Modern Illustrators Inherit the Chinese Traditional Art Style

Haochen Zhao | January 7, 2021 - Three Chinese illustrators incorporate aesthetic values from Chinese traditional art in their works.

Santa in Illustration

Venus van Ness | December 21, 2020 - Images of Santa Claus in the 1800s do not portray the round, jolly, bearded man that we know today. Throughout the latter half of the 19th century, images of Santa morphed through a variety of looks.

Enchanted: Illustrated Fairy Tales

Jesse M. Kowalski | September 23, 2020 - Images depicted alongside centuries-old children's stories reinforced the message conveyed within the tales.

Mary Hallock Foote: An Artist in the Old West

Richard J. Boyle | April 11, 2020 - This essay by noted art historian and author Richard J. Boyle examines the life and career of Mary Hallock Foote, whose illustrations and writings drew upon her life experiences on the frontier during the late-19th century.

Victor Livoti: Illustration’s Best-Kept Secret

Jeff Christoffersen | March 13, 2019 - A glimpse into the career of a prolific illustrator who painted hundreds of paperback book covers.

Children’s Book Illustrators in the Golden Age of Illustration

Corryn Kosik | June 26, 2018 - A look at some of the most influential illustrators working in 19th and 20th century England during the Golden Age of Illustration.

Pyle as a Picture Maker

James Gurney | September 16, 2015 - Pyle regarded the picture as a stage, and figures as actors in a drama.

Narrative Realism and Pictorial Composition in the Work of Howard Pyle

Frederick Schneider | June 29, 2015 - Narrative realism is an approach to illustration that engages viewers with the content of a story through composition, value, color, body language, facial expression, and the realistic portrayal of actions, events, and character interaction.

Chasing the Muse: Norman Rockwell and the Legacy of Howard Pyle

Stephanie Haboush Plunkett | April 13, 2015 - This essay explores illustrator Howard Pyle's influence on Norman Rockwell and offers consideration of their comparative works.

The Art of Hoarding

| January 10, 2015 - Aubrey Beardsley writes about the relative value of commercial art vs. fine art.

Genres
  • Advertising
    • Corporate
    • Political and Public Service
    • Product
    • Self-Promotion
  • Books
    • Children’s Books
    • Cover Art
    • Interior Illustration
  • Cartooning
    • Advertising
    • Caricature
    • Political and Editorial
    • Spot
  • Comics
    • Comic Books
      • Manga
    • Comic Strips
  • Decorative & Applied Illustration
    • Antiquities
    • Ceramics, Pottery, and Sculpture
    • Info Graphics
    • Murals
    • Portraiture
    • Stained Glass and Mosaics
    • Tapestries
    • Tattoos
  • Fantasy
    • Adventure
    • Fairy Tales and Fables
    • Mythology
  • Fashion
    • Advertising
    • Design
  • Internet Illustration
    • Website Illustration
  • Magazine
    • Cover Art
    • Story Illustration
  • Moving Image
    • Animation
    • Concept Art
    • Storyboard
  • Newspaper
  • Non-Commissioned Work
  • Photography
  • Poster
    • Event (Promotional)
    • Film
    • Political
    • Propaganda
  • Product Illustration
    • Album/CD
    • Calendars
    • DVD/VHS/Videogame
    • Greeting Cards
    • Packaging
    • Postage Stamps
  • Pulp Illustration
    • Pinup Art
    • Pulp Magazines
  • Science Fiction
    • Creatures
    • Outer Space
    • Technology
  • Technical
    • Anatomy
    • Archaeological
    • Architecture
    • Courtroom Drawings
Global Perspectives
  • North America
  • South America
  • Europe
  • Asia
  • Australia

Support the Project

We need your help to keep this project alive and growing. How can you help?

Submit Work
Make A Donation
About The Project

Stay Informed

Join our mailing list to receive updates about this growing project.

Art Works. National Endowment for the Arts. arts.gov

This project is supported in part by an award
from the National Endowment for the Arts.

"The great band of illustrators have shown us to ourselves and I am proud to be among their company."
- Norman Rockwell

©Copyright 2020 Norman Rockwell Museum
9 Route 183, Stockbridge, MA 01262 | 413.298.4100
Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions |
Equity & Justice Commitment