Norman Rockwell, once again, is everywhere! Internet search engine giant Google has paid tribute to the artist’s birthday, February 3, by modifying its homepage banner with a version incorporating one of the beloved illustrator’s iconic images.
Online users visiting http://www.google.com found the banner, which features Rockwell’s April 24, 1926 “Saturday Evening Post” cover illustration “Boy and Girl Gazing at Moon(Puppy Love).” The image is a riff on one of Rockwell’s most popular works (also known as “Little Spooners”), featuring a young boy and girl and their dog sitting on a bench, watching the sunset (in this case, the setting sun stands in for one of the “o’s” in the word Google).
Over the past year, Google has created similar custom banners (known as “Google doodles”) for such events as holidays, celebrity birthdays, and such milestones as the 40th anniversary of the TV show “Sesame Street.” The Norman Rockwell banner has already generated international interest, resulting in the temporary crashing of The Norman Rockwell Museum’s Web site due to the increased traffic and birthday well-wishes (estimated at 1,000 hits per second).
Norman Rockwell was born in New York, New York, on February 3, 1894, and went on to create an enduring body of work through his 60-plus year career as an illustrator.
Do you have an item you would like to share about the creative economy? Suggest a Post to Berkshire Creative!
