Norman Rockwell : At Home in Vermont

A richly illustrated book that examines not only the imagery but the careful myth making that made Vermont central to Rockwell's enduring vision of America

In these works, Rockwell offered a nation battered by the Great Depression andWorld War II a reassuring image of American life: orderly, self-reliant, and picturesque. Through paintings and illustrations, Rockwell captured not simply scenes of New England life, but a deeply rooted ethos-one in which democratic community, moral clarity, and quiet individualism flourished. This book, and the accompanying exhibition, situates Rockwell's Vermont years within a broader creative milieu, highlighting the Arlington artist circle that included John Atherton (1900-1952), and Gene Pelham (1909-2004)- all informally enticed to Arlington, Vermont.

Together, they helped define a cultural moment in which Vermont was mythologized as democracy's granite-strong refuge. Even Rockwell's orchestrated friendship with Anna Mary "Grandma" Moses (1860-1961)was part of a wider crafting of New England as both authentic and marketable-where artists and audiences alike found a form of moral anchorage. Featuring two newly acquired Rockwell paintings to Shelburne Museum celebrating Vermont's granite industry-long regarded as the state's "backbone"-Norman Rockwell: At Home in Vermont examines not only the imagery but the careful myth making that made Vermont central to Rockwell's enduring vision of America.

Details

• Author: Carolyn Bauer is the Marna and Chuck Davis Curator of American Art at Shelburne Museum.
• Hardcover: 152 pages | 100 colour illustrations
• Date published: August 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9781398840850
• Product Dimensions: 25.8 x 25.8 cm