I’ve never stopped being a fan of Norman Rockwell’s art since I first set my eyes on his charming paintings. This picture, titled ‘Landscape sledding’ has a timeless Christmassy feel to it. Rockwell made nearly 40 preparatory images for this delightful painting, including taking a photo of himself posing as the central figure.

About Norman Rockwell (1894 – 1978)

Norman Rockwell is celebrated as a champion of small-town America. Born in New York in 1894, Rockwell studied art in the city until the age of 21 when his family moved to the artists’ colony of New Rochelle, New York. In 1939 he moved with his first wife to tiny Arlington in Vermont, who sowed the seeds of his interest in small-town values. Rockwell once said he was interested in the private moments who all share but often take for granted. ‘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,’ he said. Humor was a constant element of his work. Even during the dark days of the two World Wars which Norman lived, he knew how important it was to keep people’s spirits up. Generations of readers of the Saturday Evening Post, whose covers Rockwell painted for over 47 years would surely agree.