How to Sell Your Norman Rockwell Artwork & Memorabilia

To auction, sell or consign your Norman Rockwell artwork or memorabilia, please email your description and photos to [email protected] of Nate D. Sanders Auctions (natedsanders.com).

What Is Norman Rockwell Best Known For?

Norman Rockwell was a 20th century illustrator and artist who spent over five decades creating cover artwork for The Saturday Evening Post, a popular magazine among the middle class that features fiction and non fiction stories and cartoons. Rockwell created over 300 covers for The Saturday Evening Post, including his most recognizable works Rosie the Riveter, The Four Freedoms and The Problem We All Live With, depicting Ruby Bridges being escorted to school by U.S. marshals. Rockwell also had a long partnership with The Boy Scouts of America and created magazine cover and calendar art for over 60 years. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977, the highest honor given to an American civilian.

Here’s Some Norman Rockwell Artwork & Memorabilia We’ve Sold:

Original Oil Painting of Richard Nixon — Sold for $125,000

Norman Rockwell oil on canvas painting of Richard Nixon, signed ”Norman / Rockwell” at lower right. Painting is the study for ”Mr. President (Richard Nixon)”, which resides in the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, and was published in the 4 February 1969 issue of ”Look” magazine, captioned ”Weighed, yet buoyed, by the American past and present, Richard M. Nixon, 37th President, faces the future in this Rockwell portrait”.

Rockwell painted this study in late 1968 of then President-Elect Richard Nixon, a man whose portrait he found ”elusive” but whose features here are unmistakenly Nixon, revealing at the same time both the guardedness and warmth of the 37th President. As the premiere portraitist of the 20th century, one would expect no less from Rockwell. Oil on canvas measures 14” x 11”. Provenance is from Judy Goffman Fine Art of New York, and then subsequently the Charles E. Sigety Collection. Exhibited at the Mississippi Museum of Art in ”Norman Rockwell: The Great American Storyteller” from 2 March-15 May 1988, no. 64. Painting is in very good condition, with a stretcher bar mark along upper edge. Wax lined, with no inpainting. Sold for $125,000.

Oil On Canvas Painting “Mr. Apple” — Sold for $33,722

Norman Rockwell painting “Mr. Apple” (Homage to Rene Magritte), Oil on canvas, 13″ x 17 3/8″ inches, Signed “Norman Rockwell.” Painted June 1970, Stockridge, Massachusetts  Includes letters of provenance: 1.) TLS “Norman,” dated 6/11/1970 on his personal stationery where he writes, in part: “I must tell you that I got the two apples, and I haven’t eaten them, but I have put them in the refrigerator so they will keep bright and shiny…It will be fun doing such a unique painting.” 2.) ALS in full, nd, on his personal stationery where he handwrites, “Dear Mr. Blum – Here it is!  I really enjoyed painting Mr. Apple.  I sure hope you like it. The painting may still be wet when you get it. But do not varnish it for a couple of months.  If you use [sic] a fine mastic varnish it will preserve it forever. Cordially, Norman Rockwell.” Painting also includes two other letters of provenance describing the reason for Rockwell completing the work (it was done as a label for United Vintners), and tracing its path of ownership in very fine detail from the studio of Rockwell to its current state in our archives.  This Rockwell original has never before been exhibited, and never before been offered to the public. Sold for $33,722.

Signed Portrait of Richard Nixon — Sold for $24,000

1960 signed Norman Rockwell portrait of Richard Nixon, done for the cover of the “Saturday Evening Post.” Charcoal on paper drawing measuring 16″ x 20.75″. Signed to lower right with the artist’s initials, “NR.” This portrait was a study for the 5 November 1960 cover of the Saturday Evening Post, which appeared amidst the presidential race one week after Rockwell’s cover portrait of Kennedy. In addition to Nixon and Kennedy, Rockwell was commissioned to paint portraits of Presidents Eisenhower and Johnson, as well as several foreign heads of state. Sold for $24,000.

Oil Painting of Vice President Spiro Agnew — Sold for $15,109

Norman Rockwell painting of the 39th Vice President of the United States, Spiro Agnew. Oil on canvas depicts a profile of Agnew with a beautiful background of rising puffy clouds and solid blue sky. Signed by Rockwell at lower left. Painting was done in 1970 and featured on the cover of TV Guide, dated 16 May 1970. Measures 13″ x 19″. Some abrasion from framing at edges, and line of paint loss along left edge. Near fine condition. Inexpensive Norman Rockwell painting.  Sold for $15,109.

Personally Used Paintbrush — Sold for $15,000

Norman Rockwell personally owned and used paintbrush, gifted by Rockwell in 1972. Round-tip paintbrush measures 7.25” long, with a black handle and a white ribbed ferrule. Paintbrush is accompanied by a typed letter signed by Rockwell, dated 26 September 1972 to a Reverend Paul John Rich, giving him the paintbrush in lieu of items concerning Rockwell’s Boy Scout paintings. Letter reads in part, ”…I am sending along one of my paintbrushes, together with my autograph…[signed] Norman Rockwell”. Lot also includes a card showing Rockwell at his easel, with a handwritten note, ”I have done some fifty odd Calendars for The Boy Scouts of America / cordially / Norman Rockwell”. All pieces are framed together, along with a page from the ”Boy Scout Handbook”. Sold for $15,000.

Signed “Four Freedoms” Posters — Sold for $7,423

Original and complete set of “Four Freedoms” posters by Norman Rockwell from 1943, each signed by Rockwell in black felt-tip at lower left, without inscription. Posters measuring 28.5″ x 40″ depict “Freedom of Speech”, “Freedom of Worship”, “Freedom from Want” and “Freedom from Fear”, four tenets of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address. Rockwell was so inspired by the speech that he created the oil paintings in 1943, which were then featured in “The Saturday Evening Post” and reproduced as war bond posters by the Office of War Information. Posters are original from 1943, with OWI printing information at bottom. Posters range in condition from very good to near fine. Sold for $7,423.

Signed Lithograph of John F. Kennedy — Sold for $3,200

Norman Rockwell signed limited edition lithograph of his famous John F. Kennedy portrait. Signed boldly in pencil at bottom right of portrait “Norman Rockwell” and numbered at lower left #186 of 2500. Rockwell painted this portrait of Kennedy for a 1960 cover of “The Saturday Evening Post”; it was JFK’s favorite portrait of himself. Lithograph on Arches paper measures 14.75″ x 20″. Near fine condition. Complete with blue leather-grained portfolio and booklet issued with the lithograph. Sold for $3,200.

Signed Poster of Brooks Robinson — Sold for $2,860

Norman Rockwell signed “Gee, Thanks, Brooks” poster, his famous 1971 portrait of Orioles player Brooks Robinson. Rockwell signs along the lower border in black felt-tip, “sincerely, Norman Rockwell”, with this poster one of Rockwell’s rarer signed prints. Indeed, it may have been specially signed for the recipient who posed for the original painting, as indicated by a note on the verso. Poster measures 25″ x 36″. Light foxing and edgewear including small .5″ closed tear to upper margin, and abrasion to green background near Robinson’s knee. Overall very good condition. Sold for $2,860.

Signed & Inscribed Dog Sketch — Sold for $1,172

Norman Rockwell signed & inscribed sketch with an additional inscription by his son Thomas Rockwell. Title page of “Norman Rockwell / My Adventures as an Illustrator…As Told to Thomas Rockwell,” removed from the volume & signed & inscribed with an original sketch of a dog by Norman Rockwell. Inscription reads, “My best wishes to Tom Mahoney / from his faithful friend / Norman Rockwell.” Additionally signed by Rockwell’s son, “and to Barnaby’s comrade in arms, Johnny, from / Tom Rockwell.” Page measures 5.75″ x 9″. Fine condition. Sold for $1,172.

Thanks for viewing some of the Norman Rockwell artwork and memorabilia we’ve sold! Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

FAQs

How do I consign or sell my Norman Rockwell artwork or memorabilia?
It’s never been easier to sell your Norman Rockwell artwork at Nate D. Sanders Auctions. Email a description and photos of your item to [email protected] and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible with a free estimate.

This sounds great and I’d like to move forward. What’s the consignment process like at Nate D. Sanders Auctions?
We’ll send you more information about our auction house along with an agreement for your review. Your item will appear in our next auction. Unlike many auction houses, we hold monthly auctions and pay you within an industry-leading 45 days post auction.

What factors determine the value of a Norman Rockwell artwork?
The value of your artwork can vary based on condition, type of artwork and subject matter.