I’m reading a lot of non-fiction this year and I think I’m learning a lot. I didn’t know Norman Rockwell, for a start. When I first googled his name, before I started reading the book, I realized I had seen some of his illustrations but I didn’t know him or his popularity in the States. Rockwell culture is huge and I was astonished to know that there are even meetings of Rockwell’s models every year, or that there are Rockwell’s dolls; little dolls which represents people from his paintings. It’s unbelievable.
But this book is not about his work in general; it only focuses on the illustrations in which black people appear. For me, this fact was just irrelevant until I read that most of the collections of Rockwell’s work have avoid deliberately including these illustrations; that some people thought he was racist because they had seen only illustrations with white people; or that Rockwell, at the beginning of his career had trouble in including black people in his paintings because the magazines he worked for forbade him to paint black people in the main roles of the paintings. Again, it’s unbelievable.
In Hidden in plain sight, the author takes us to a journey to meet who those “other” people were. Jane Allen Petrick has researched into Rockwell’s paintings and has interviewed his models – the majority of them were kids when they worked for him – who tell us the story of how they ended up being models for the painter and how their experience was (most of the memories include tons of Coca Cola!). I have found interesting that he organized photograph sessions for every painting, asking the models to pose in certain ways that then he would transform into oil paintings.
I know the author’s aim was to show Rockwell’s unknown work to the public, but since this is my first approach to Rockwell’s art, I think this is also a great book to get to know this artist and how he was committed to represent every American person through his paintings.
Finally, I want to show you some of the paintings mentioned in the book:
Road block
Glen Canyon Dam
And of course, The problem we all live with
Hidden In Plain Sight was named to Kirkus Review’s Best Books of 2013.
Thanks to Virtual Author Book Tours for the copy; follow the tour.
- Book on amazon.com ♦ Book on Goodreads
- Jane Allen Petrick website
- Jane Allen Petrick on Facebook
From Isi 
I’ve never heard of this book. Sounds interesting. Thanks for the review!
It’s very interesting, Naomi. It’s another point of view about Rockwell’s work, focusing in certain paintings.
Very cool. His art is so popular and I see it often in different office settings. I like when books are written to expand on some thing like popular art and artists.
Exactly, Jennine, this book offers knowledge about less known paintings that have their own story. And I liked to know about Rockwell as well.
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Thanks for taking part in the tour. I’m so glad you enjoyed Hidden In Plain Sight!
Thank you, Teddy!
I really enjoyed the book; and I liked to know about this artist.
I’m familiar-ish with Rockwell, but I had no idea that he caught so much flack for trying to include minorities in his paintings. Very interesting!
It is intersting!! He tried to paint America as it is (it was in his time), and that includes black people, native american, and so on. The book explains it very well!
This looks like a great read about the real stories behind the infamous paintings. Rockwell’s art is iconic here and this sounds like a worthwhile read.
I hope you will link up this and 2 more posts on my Small Victories Sunday linky that’s open now.
http://momssmallvictories.com/small-victories-sunday-linky-8-bust-good-mother-myth/
Thank you, “Mom’s Small Victories”. I welcome having “Hidden in Plain Sight: The Other People in Norman Rockwell’s America” discussed on your site and look forward to reading your comments.
Cordially,
Jane Allen Petrick
Author
Tanya: yes, I’ve seen it’s a well known artist, and I think this is a great book to get to know him better.
I will link it next week, becuase this week has been a nightmare and I hardly had time for blogging and commenting over the blogosphere!! Thanks for reminding it to me!
Dear Isi,
My thanks to you and your blog readers for your thoughtful comments. It means so much to a writer (me!) to hear back from readers their thoughts, to know that the writer is not simply a “voice crying in the wilderness”.
Again, thank you. If your readers have any questions about the book, Rockwell or his work, I would be happy to answer them if they post them in this thread.
Cordially,
Jane
Thank you, Jane, for the book. I’ve really enjoyed it, and you’ve seen I’m very happy to have got to know Rockwell through your research. It is really interesting!
I want to start reading more non fiction. I can learn a lot!
You’ll love it, Shanny!
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I must read more non-fiction, which I plan to do this year. Thanks for sharing, I know very little about Rockwell
So did I befre reading this book! I’m also in the mood for non-fiction, so I’m reviewing some books of this kind; you’ll see 😉
This sounds like a very interesting read, the title itself is very telling. It’s so sad he was given a hard time for portraying African-Americans in his paintings, and quite shocking that some people should deem him racist when in fact the last pic you posted is one of his most iconic works, I think.
I love Rockwell’s work, by the way :).
Yes, I liked to know those details about his work and the dificulties he had at that time. It’s a very interesting book 🙂