Norman Rockwell Museum Adds To Illustration Collection

The Norman Rockwell Museum says it has nearly doubled its collection of American illustration art with a new gift from the Famous Artists School of Westport, Conn.

The donation includes more than 5,000 un-catalogued artworks, including several original works by Rockwell, along with other archives.

Rockwell is known for capturing everyday mid-20th century American culture, particularly in his illustrations for the cover of The Saturday Evening Post magazine. The Famous Artists School was the most popular art technique correspondence course of that period.

The Rockwell museum has the world's largest collection of original Norman Rockwell art, and said the new gift allows it to better show the works' cultural context.

Museum Director and CEO Laurie Norton Moffatt says it's important to preserve American visual culture that millions of people experienced through published mass media.