Thursday, July 02

STOCKBRIDGE -- The studio of legendary artist and illustrator Norman Rockwell isn't a large structure: It's a single-story building with a loft, a storage area and a well-lit room that served as a studio, office, reference area and break room.

And out of this building came some of Rockwell's best work.

"Some of Rockwell's most famous paintings were completed in his studio," said Laurie Norton Moffatt, director and CEO of the Norman Rockwell Museum. "Masterpieces. ‘Girl at the Mirror.' ‘The Runaway'. ‘Triple Self-Portrait.' All of the civil rights paintings."

After a $45,000 renovation, museum officials reopened the studio to the public in May.

Although it ‘s too early to gauge the impact of the new studio in terms of attendance, Stephanie Plunkett, the museum's deputy director and chief curator, said the studio has drawn considerable interest since it reopened.

"People consider it a very unique opportunity to get a chance to see where Norman Rockwell worked," she said.

Phillippe Bouet, of Marseilles, France, who was visiting the museum with a friend recently, said it was "amazing" to see the workplace of "such a great artist."

"This is a very emotional day for us," Bouet said. "We have seen reproductions of his work on small boxes, like sugar boxes. To see the work full size is amazing."

Said Moffatt: "Artists studios are very important places, but they are

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not very well preserved in this country, as opposed to, say, Europe."

More than 600 artists studios have been preserved in Europe, but there are "maybe a dozen" in the United States, Moffatt said, noting that Stockbridge is rich in artists studios.

In addition to Rockwell's workplace, the studio of famed sculptor Daniel Chester French is at Chesterwood, just up the road from the Rockwell Museum. Also in the town: the Frelinghuysen-Morris Museum, the home of American abstract artists Suzy Frelinghuysen and George L.K.Morris.

"I think people get a better understanding of how an artist works if they can see his studio," Moffatt said.

Rockwell's studio originally was a carriage house on the Rockwell property on South Street.

Rockwell, who moved to Stockbridge from Vermont in 1953, renovated the studio building in 1957. The home itself was located just around the corner from the Red Lion Inn.

Moffatt said that when the studio was moved to its current site on the Linwood estate in 1986, the intent was to duplicate, as closely as possible, the view Rockwell had when the looked out his window.

"The setting is similar," she said. "The difference is that at the old location, Rockwell could walk out his door and go into town."

In addition to his many commercial jobs, Rockwell used the studio as the setting for some of his more famous portraits, including those of actor John Wayne, singer Frank Sinatra, golfer Arnold Palmer, and cultural icon Col. Harland Sanders, of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame.

"Toward the end of his life, [Rockwell] was besieged by people who wanted him to paint their portrait," Moffatt said. "Most of them he had to turn down, because he just didn't have the time."