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A Day In The Life
Norman Rockwell's Stockbridge Studio
In 1957 Norman Rockwell purchased a home on South Street, near the center of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The property's backyard included a dilapidated carriage barn, which he converted into a working studio. Though Rockwell occupied approximately twenty studios throughout his life, it was this last one – seen before you – which he referred to as his "best studio yet."
As old age set in, Rockwell grew concerned about the fate of his favorite workspace, and in 1976, he drafted a provision of his will that entrusted the building and its contents to the Norman Rockwell Museum. The studio was temporarily emptied and moved by the Museum to its current location in 1986, arriving on the campus in two pieces secured to flatbed trucks.
With his health declining, Rockwell produced few artworks after 1976, and his visits to the studio gradually ceased. At the time it was acquired by the Museum, the arrangement of the studio's interior reflected the latter and least active aspect of the artist's career. The Museum's current interpretation replicates how the studio appeared in October of 1960, when Norman Rockwell was immersed in the completion of his painting Golden Rule, the April 1, 1961 Saturday Evening Post cover. This installation provided insights into Rockwell's intensive working process, his artistic inspirations, and a typical day in the life of his studio during a time when he was actively using it. |