The Norman Rockwell Museum

Keepers of the Flame:  Parrish, Wyeth, Rockwell and the Narrative Tradition

On a a beautiful July day, June and I headed off the the Berkshires to see the latest exhibition at the Norman Rockwell museum.  It was an easy drive and with arrive without difficulty.  While the parking lot seemed only have full, the museum was buzzing.  The exhibition divided over four galleries.  Each gallery was dedicated to one artist and the teachers who have influenced him.  It was an interesting lesson in art history, although I must admit I only recognized a few of the more famous American teachers.

This is the picture that made me want to go to see the exhibition, not to mention I thought it would be fun to take a drive to the Berkshires.  However, it was Parrish's Solitude that made the trip all worthwhile.

Solitude is simply amazing - once could stare at it for a long time wondering how it was painted.  While the exhibition said that Parrish is best known for his fantasy illustrations, I thought this landscape was just wonderful.  I will have to learn more about his landscape works.

The website describes the exhibition in the following terms:  "Narrative realism in picturemaking has been a constant—not just through eight hundred years of Western art, but through the entire history of humanity’s creative efforts, from the earliest cave paintings and frescos on the walls of ancient Egyptian tombs to today’s published imagery for print, animation, and gaming. With irrefutable evidence on display, Keepers of the Flame: Parrish, Wyeth, Rockwell and the Narrative Tradition, opening on June 9, will shed light on the unbreakable thread connecting American illustration and legendary artists Maxfield Parrish, N.C. Wyeth, and Norman Rockwell to the roots of European painting through the long line of teachers, who have, through the centuries, passed along the wisdom, knowledge, and techniques of the ages to the next generation of creators.

At the heart of this exhibition are Parrish’s lush fantasies, set in the timeless fairytale landscapes of his imaginings; Wyeth’s exuberant compositions and unforgettable characters, which breathe life into classic literature; and Rockwell’s humanistic portrayals, filled with humor and insights, for the nation’s most popular publications. 

Curated by Dennis Nolan, an award-winning illustrator and professor of art at Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, the exhibition featuring more than 85 works by American and European masters spans five hundred years, tracing the student to teacher lineage of three Golden Age illustrators to their artistic forbearers in the Italian Renaissance. Paintings intended for a broad clientele, whether church or state, private collectors or public entities, transcend their original purpose to through the art of visual storytelling. Narrative paintings inspired by religious, mythological, allegorical, and literary sources, painted with academic precision, accuracy, and beauty, will be on view."