# @normanrockwellofficial on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CfRhBdXvzxr
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/9880616-normanrockwellofficial-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/c0561c4048.jpg
- **Posted:** 2022-06-26T15:34:20.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Norman Rockwell (@Normanrockwellofficial) — https://gondola.cc/Normanrockwellofficial

## Caption

Me and My Pal: Rivals

Painted in 1954

Me and My Pal: The Rivals is a quintessential example of Norman Rockwell's work for the publishing company Brown & Bigelow, which commissioned the #artist to create illustrations for its Four Seasons calendar series from 1948 through 1964. Each year the calendar had a different #theme , which Rockwell then explored in four separate illustrations focused on each of the four seasons. The full suite of images often depicted two central characters, typically a #youngcouple or a boy and his #dog , as they engaged in various #seasonal activities throughout the year. In addition to their appearance in Brown & Bigelow calendars, Rockwell’s images were sold nationwide as prints and other collectible items. As is true of his magazine covers, the widespread national engagement with these images allowed them to become widely known and cherished by the #American public. 

Rockwell’s Four Seasons calendars exemplify his seemingly effortless ability to imbue all of his works with a strong narrative element and indeed, attest to the remarkable #cinematic quality that infuses his most successful compositions. The annual suite of calendar images closely resemble the storyboard of a film, with Rockwell providing the primary plot but encouraging his viewers to use their own imaginations to fill in the details of the overarching narrative. The #commercial success and enduring popularity of the Four Seasons calendars defines Rockwell’s unique ability to select widely appealing subjects that would resonate with almost all Americans, and to inject #humor into scenes of #everydaylife . “It is easy to see that had he not been a gifted artist,” states his biographer Christopher Finch, “Norman Rockwell might have become a successful writer or director for films or television. Situation comedy has been one of the most popular genres in both these mediums, and no one has a better knack for inventing comedic situations than Rockwell” 

#normanrockwell #fourseasons #painting  #rivals

## Stats

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- **Likes:** 1,493
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## Tags

youngcouple, theme, seasonal, everydaylife, american, dog, humor, fourseasons, rivals, painting, artist, normanrockwell, commercial, cinematic

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