Portrait of Tony Bennett, by Everett Raymond Kinstler, 2006. Oil on canvas. 24" x 36". Collection of the artist. ©2006 Everett Raymond Kinstler. All rights reserved.

Highly-regarded as a prominent American portraitist, Everett Raymond Kinstler began his career as a comic book artist and illustrator working for the popular publications of his day. The artist’s original illustrations and portraits of noted celebrities—from John Wayne, Katherine Hepburn, Tony Bennett, and Tom Wolfe to artists James Montgomery Flagg, Alexander Calder, and Will Barnet will be on view in a lively installation that explores the process of capturing likenesses of his subjects for posterity. This exhibition is presented as part of Norman Rockwell Museum’s Distinguished Illustrator Series, honoring the unique contributions of outstanding visual communicators today. Presented by the Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies, the nation’s first research institute devoted to the art of illustration, the Distinguished Illustrator Series reflects the impact and evolution of Norman Rockwell’s beloved profession, exploring a diverse and ever-changing field.

Support for Everett Raymond Kinstler: Pulps to Portraits  is made possible in part through the generosity of The Dr. Seuss Fund at the San Diego Foundation, Mr & Mrs. Ernest Steiner, Drs. Irma and Andrew Hilton, Mr. & Mrs. Michael Shane Neal, Mrs. Helen Powell, Mrs. Thomas Evans, Mr. & Mrs. Ray Ellis, Mr. & Mrs. Michael Horvitz, and Mr. Forrest E. Mars, Jr.

Additional support has been provided by Mr. & Mrs. Tony Bennett, Ms. Mary Higgins Clark, Mr. William J. Flynn, Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Dougherty, Mr. & Mrs. Alfred U. Elser, Jr., Mr. & Mrs. Peter Martin, Mr. & Mrs. George Munroe, Mr. Marne Obernauer, Jr., Mr. John Doyle Ong, Mr. & Mrs. Russell Palmer, Mr. & Mrs. Alex Rosenberg, and Dr. John Silber.

EXHIBITION OPENING EVENT

Saturday, March 10, 5 to 7 p.m.

Commentary at 5:30 p.m. by artist Everett Raymond Kinstler

Join us for a special evening with Everett Raymond Kinstler, the prominent American portraitist who began his career as a comic book artist and illustrator working for the popular publications of his day. Reception will follow with refreshments and a cash bar. $20, members free. RSVP 413.931.2221, or rsvp@nrm.org

"An Attack on a Galleon," Howard Pyle, 1905. Oil on canvas, 29 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches Delaware Art Museum, Museum Purchase, 1912

When Howard Pyle died in 1911, he left behind an extensive body of over 3,000 works of art and a lasting legacy of inspired teaching. This exhibition features an outstanding selection of the artist’s best known and rarely seen paintings, drawings, prints, and archival materials that shed light on the artist’s career as a painter and a consummate storyteller in a changing world at the cusp of the 20th century. Admired by Norman Rockwell and his contemporaries, Pyle’s exacting working methods resulted in the creation of artworks of singular beauty and refinement with innovative compositional structures. His extraordinary skill was strengthened by his conviction that illustration was an act of self revelation, and he encouraged students like N.C. Wyeth, Jessie Willcox Smith, and Frank Schoonover to understand their subjects by living them. The artist’s powerful paintings of pirates and historical and literary themes continue to spark the imagination, as reflected in the works on view.

About Howard Pyle: www.delart.org/collections/pyle_illus

Exhibition preview: