A pair of Norman Rockwell's personal correspondence, a letter and postcard; each hand-signed by Mr. Rockwell, in matching frames.
The letter, dated May 2, 1972, is on Norman Rockwell's personal stationery from Stockbridge, Massachusetts, sent in thanks to a Mr. Schuett. Mr. Rockwell has written: "This is in reply to your letter of April 24th in which you said many nice things, and I thank you. / My very best wishes to you." It is then signed, "Cordially, 'Norman Rockwell'."
Norman Rockwell's signature on the letter is large, bold and clear, in black ink.
With the letter, Norman Rockwell had enclosed the second item in the pair— a signed and inscribed postcard which features a photographic image of Norman Rockwell, along with his personal inscription, all hand-written by Norman Rockwell. The postcard reads: "My best wishes to Irwin M. Schuett / Cordially, Norman Rockwell.
The letter and postcard are both framed and ready for display, in matching antiqued-silver frames with beadwork detailing. Framed sizes measure 11-1/4" x 9-1/8" and 9-1/8" x 11-1/4", respectively.
Norman Rockwell's signatures on both items have been examined and authenticated by PSA/DNA Authentication Services, and have both been assigned a unique alpha-numeric authentication number. Each of the pair is accompanied by its own Full Letter of Authenticity from PSA/DNA.
NORMAN ROCKWELL (1894-1978) artwork captured scenes from American life and culture, skillfully executed with such minute attention to detail and so realistic that they often resembled photographs rather than paintings. During Rockwell's prodigious career he painted over 300 cover illustrations for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over nearly five decades. He also is noted for his 64-year relationship with the Boy Scouts of America, during which he produced covers for their publication Boys' Life (with which he began his career at age 18), annual calendars, and other illustrations.
Norman Rockwell was a prolific artist, producing more than four thousand original works in his lifetime. Most of his works are either in public collections, or have been destroyed in fire or other misfortunes. Rockwell also was commissioned to illustrate more than forty books, including Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. His annual contributions for the Boy Scouts calendars between 1925 and 1976 (Rockwell was a 1939 recipient of the Silver Buffalo Award, the highest adult award given by the Boy Scouts of America), were only slightly overshadowed by his most popular of calendar works: the Four Seasons illustrations for Brown & Bigelow that were published for seventeen years beginning in 1947 and reproduced in various styles and sizes since 1964. He painted six images for Coca-Cola advertising. Illustrations for booklets, catalogs, posters (particularly movie promotions), sheet music, stamps, playing cards, and murals (including Yankee Doodle Dandy and God Bless the Hills, which was completed in 1936 for the Nassau Inn in Princeton, New Jersey) rounded out Rockwell's œuvre as an illustrator. In 1969, as a tribute to Rockwell's seventy-fifth anniversary of his birth, officials of Brown & Bigelow and the Boy Scouts of America asked Rockwell to pose in Beyond the Easel, the calendar illustration that year. Rockwell's work was exhibited at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 2001. Rockwell's Breaking Home Ties sold for $15.4 million at a 2006 Sotheby's auction. A twelve-city U.S. tour of Rockwell's works took place in 2008. In 2008, Rockwell was named the official state artist of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The 2013 sale of Saying Grace for $46 million established a new record price for Rockwell art. Rockwell's work was exhibited at the Reading Public Museum and the Church History Museum in 2013–2014.
Size: 11-1/4" x 9-1/8" and 9-1/8" x 11-1/4"
Includes a certificate of authenticity.