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Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg

July 2, 2010 - January 2, 2011

Museum: American Art Museum

Location: Osher Galleries, 1st Floor, West

Two of America's best-known modern filmmakers -- George Lucas and Steven Spielberg -- recognized a kindred spirit in the artist Norman Rockwell and formed in-depth collections of his work. Lucas, Spielberg, and Rockwell have perpetuated American ideals about love of country, personal honor, and the value of family through their work. With humor and pathos, they have transformed ordinary people and the quotidian incidents of everyday experience into stories that show us our better selves and the values that have sustained Americans through good times and bad. All three share an ability to communicate visually with mass audiences using popular media of their time. Telling Stories will reveal for the first time the connections between Rockwell's iconic images of American life and the movies.

This exhibition showcases 57 major Rockwell paintings and drawings from these private collections that are rarely seen by the public.

See December 2009 Smithsonian magazine, pp. 8-10
Related publication: $65 (cloth), $45 (paper)

Video: Excerpts from interviews in which Lucas and Spielberg talk about Rockwell and the works in their collections (runs continuously)

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