Norman rockwell gay

Although she can't conclusively prove that Rockwell had sex with men, she makes a sound argument that he "demonstrated an intense need for emotional and physical closeness with men" and. It seems to me that Ms. Solomon's efforts were to smear, rather than give any serious consideration to who Norman Rockwell is, and what he was painting. It is more likely that she was projecting her own degeneracy upon him, rather than even trying to be objective about her subject.

Former New York Times columnist Deborah Solomon’s new biography of Norman Rockwell, American Mirror, hints that America’s “most beloved artist” may have been a closeted gay man. This major look at the work of illustrator Norman Rockwell is a sober, serious, thoughtful analysis of a significant artist and how his life influenced his work. But that doesn't mean a review of the book need maintain such high standards. Whenever anyone asked what I was reading, I said "a biography of Norman Rockwell" and immediately added, "It turns out he was probably gay, even if Rockwell himself didn't quite realize it.

Looking anew at Rockwell’s work through the prism of forbidden homosexuality, new narratives emerge. Although he had three wives and three children, Solomon portrays him as a loner looking for connection, the repressed gay man conforming to the mainstream. As queer theorists would say, he was hiding in plain sight. Without thinking too much about it in specific terms, I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed. Rockwell found success early. He painted his first commission of four Christmas cards before his sixteenth birthday.

Although she can’t conclusively prove that Rockwell had sex with men, she makes an argument that he “demonstrated an intense need for emotional and physical closeness with men” and that his unhappy marriages were attempts at “passing” and “controlling his homoerotic desires.”. Privacy Policy. Please visit My Account to verify and manage your account. An account was already registered with this email.