Feature
Pictures Framed
Why the Critics Are Still Wrong About Norman Rockwell by Patrick Toner
Art critics have a longstanding tradition of loathing Norman Rockwell (1894–1978), but this tradition seems to be slowly dying out. It may remain outré in certain circles to admit to liking Rockwell, but more and more critics seem willing to make the admission regardless. The result is that Rockwell's work is being praised more widely than ever before.
But a thing that deserves praise may nevertheless be praised badly, and unfortunately that is what is happening in much of the new Rockwell criticism. Actually, it seems to me that it's happened in most Rockwell criticism, whenever produced, and whether positive or negative. I will not provide anything like an exhaustive survey of that literature here. Instead, I'll pick a few outstanding examples, ending with the most recent and visible Rockwell critic—Deborah Solomon.
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
subscription options
Order
Print/Online Subscription
Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!
Order
Online Only
Subscription
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more from the online archives
32.5—September/October 2019
Some Trivial Thoughts on the Study of Philosophy by Graeme Hunter
24.6—Nov/Dec 2011
on the Tyranny of Modern Freedom versus the Freedom of Jesus by Gillis J. Harp
31.5—September/October 2018
on the Congregation as a Wilderness by Paul Gregory Alms
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
