The Norman Rockwell museum should be a stop for any illustrator within traveling distance. 323 of Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post Covers are on display, along interesting examples of his earlier illustrations and later paintings, including the Four Freedoms.
It was interesting to see how Rockwell varied his painting technique. The brushwork in some of the earlier work looked almost like J.D. Leyendecker - though I couldn't tell if it was influenced by the German born illustrator or simply a technique for mechanical reproduction. The paint in later Saturday Evening Post Covers was applied thinly, gesturally in places - while paintings that were obviously meant for display (as opposed to being printed in reduction) had a more thorough job of modeling.
The Norman Rockwell Museum
9 Glendale Road, Route 183
Stockbridge, Massachusetts 01262
November-April: Weekdays 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
May-October and holidays: Daily 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Weekends and holidays 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
$15.00 for adults: buy on location or buy online.
$13.50 for seniors.
$10.00 for college students with valid school I.D.
More at -
www.nrm.org