Jerry Pinkney’s The Lion & the Mouse, a nearly wordless adaptation of the Aesop fable, won the Caldecott Model for the best picture. This and other book awards were announced this morning (January 18, 2010) at the American Library Association mid-winter meeting in Boston.
Jan 18, 2010 | Categories: News | Comments Off
Internationally-renowned American artist, illustrator, educator, and past member of the Norman Rockwell Museum Board of Trustees, Barbara Nessim was recently named the first recipient of the Museum’s Artist Laureate Award in honor of her dedication, support, and outstanding professional accomplishments.
The commendation of Artist Laureate honors the contributions of outstanding visual artists whose exceptional commitment to the Museum and its mission have guided and advanced the institution and its work. The Artist Laureate fosters an understanding and appreciation of the art of Norman Rockwell, the art of illustration, and the Museum’s continued leadership in the vanguard of preservation and interpretation relating to this important aspect of American visual culture. We are honored to feature a selection of original illustrations from the artist’s personal collection in commemoration of this inaugural award.
About Barbara Nessim
A vital contributor and influential visionary in the world of art, Barbara Nessim has always been original in her thinking and unprecedented in her creativity. Inspired by her mother, a clothing designer, Barbara financed her studies at Pratt Institute by working as a freelance fashion illustrator, designing everything from shoes and apparel to textiles.
Recognized for her fresh approach to image-making, Nessim was among the few female freelance illustrators of her time. In 1980, she embraced innovation and began using the computer to create published and personal imagery. Never short of inspiration, she attributes the ongoing creativity in her work to her fine training as an artist, and relies almost solely upon her sketchbooks to generate new ideas.
Nessim’s passion for her work and desire to bring more to her art set the stage for what would become a long and illustrious career that has inspired many others along the way. Her illustrations have appeared in our nation’s most prominent periodicals, from The New York Times to Rolling Stone, and her paintings and drawings have graced the walls of prominent museums and galleries around the globe including The Smithsonian Institution, The Victoria and Albert Museum, and The Louvre among others. She has also shared her gifts in the classroom as a mentor of aspiring artists at the School of Visual Arts and at Parsons/The New School for Design, where she served as Chair of the Illustration Department from 1992 to 2004. Today, the artist focuses on the creation of large scale works for public buildings, and continues to create personal art for exhibition in New York City and beyond.
Barbara Nessim
John Lennon Remembered, 1988
Cover illustration and studies for Rolling Stone, October 20, 1988
Ink and watercolor on paper
Collection of the artist
Sep 29, 2009 | Categories: News | Comments Off
Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Bernie Fuchs, a master of American illustration whose fresh perspectives and vibrant paintings changed the look and feel of published imagery, inspiring generations of artists to think and see in new ways. Mr. Fuchs’ influence ran deep, and his powerful artworks, borne of diverse methodologies and approaches, were enjoyed by millions who encountered his art at the turn of a page.
The following tribute to Bernie Fuchs was written by Museum Collections Consultant, Terrance Brown, a past director of the Society of Illustrators in New York, and longtime friend of the artist and his family.
Stephanie Plunkett
Chief Curator
Norman Rockwell Museum
Bernie Fuchs (1932 -2009)
Bernie Fuchs was to his generation what Norman Rockwell was to his. He was the artist whose next work was anxiously awaited by all other illustrators. He broke ground visually and compositionally, and spent his entire career painting the subjects he loved best: sports, jazz, travel and romance.
But Bernie had help. Illustration is a collaboration between the art director who needs to have a visual problem solved and an artist who needs to feed their creative juices. His images often incorporated interesting viewpoints along with his trademark dramatic lighting, with a thinned oil wash over a deft charcoal drawing as his medium. A unique approach to composition, inspired by so many reference photos, lay the groundwork for the drama that unfolds in the text, always secondary to his layout.
Bernie Fuchs grew up in southwestern Illinois, graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, and began his career creating car ads in Detroit in the late 1950s. He moved to Westport, Connecticut in 1958 and was soon the brightest star in the illustration world. He created over fifty features for Sports Illustrated, painted presidents, movie star, athletes, The Indy 500, the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, the races at Longchamps, English pubs, college bars, postal stamps and children’s books.
An era has passed. And the artist who was “the man” in that era would answer the compliment with a simple: “You are too kind.”
Terrance Brown
Sep 23, 2009 | Categories: News | Comments Off
By CAROL KINO/The New York Times
Stockbridge, Mass.
ALTHOUGH Norman Rockwell’s ability to capture small-town bonhomie made him the leading illustrator of his time, these days his vision is often derided as anachronistic and hokey. One might expect the museum that manages his legacy to be similarly stuck in time. But Rockwell himself was more complex and worldly than is often acknowledged today, and so is the Norman Rockwell Museum here — what some might call a hip and savvy institution masquerading in square clothing.
Capitalizing on an abiding public interest and good will toward the Rockwell name, it has managed to mount popular exhibitions devoted not just to him but also to other illustrators, cartoonists and political satirists, complete with serious scholarly catalogs. And on Tuesday, Rockwell’s birthday, the museum announced that it would extend its influence through the creation of the Rockwell Center, which will transform the museum into a nexus for the study of American illustration art, a woefully neglected field.
For a museum founded primarily as a showcase for the work of a single artist, expanding the mission in this way may seem an unusual departure. Yet it is a common strategy for single-artist institutions, like the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, N.M., and the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. Broadening the focus is regarded as a way to show the work in context and keep the reputation renewed, as well as widening avenues for funding.
Read the rest of the Article here.
May 24, 2009 | Categories: News | Comments Off
