The Arkansas Arts Center will host In Search of Norman Rockwell’s America, a groundbreaking exhibition that pairs the work of American icon Norman Rockwell with images by award-winning photojournalist Kevin Rivoli. In Search of Norman Rockwell’s America will be on view in the Jeannette Edris Rockefeller Gallery beginning July 29 and ending September 18, 2011.
Unprecedented in concept, this exhibition features a selection of black and white photographs alongside original Rockwell paintings, drawings and lithographs of similar imagery, forming a captivating comparison exhibition. Included in the exhibition is the never-before-published painting The Golfer, a rare subject for Rockwell and one of his earlier works.
Kevin Rivoli began taking “slices of life” photographs 20 years ago while working as a photojournalist – images of family, community, patriotism, milestones, and people enjoying simple pleasures. It was not until many years later that he realized their similarity to Rockwell’s work, not only in mood and subject, but often in composition as well.
Image: Norman Rockwell Gee, Thanks, Brooks (study), c. 1971. Reprinted with permission of Brooks C. Robinson.
The Arkansas Arts Center is an art museum with a children’s theatre and a studio school. Founded in 1960, its mission is to ensure that learning, inspiration and creative expression in the arts flourish throughout Arkansas, for people of all ages and backgrounds. The AAC realizes this mission by developing, preserving and exhibiting its outstanding permanent collection, offering a rich variety of art from other collections and presenting programs for the education and cultural benefit of the public.
www.arkarts.com