About This Stamp
The Postal Service honored artist Norman Rockwell with the issuance of a sheet of 50 29-cent stamps and a souvenir sheet of four 50-cent stamps on July 1, 1994, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The dedication ceremony was held at the Norman Rockwell museum in conjunction with the museum's centennial celebration of Rockwell's birth year.
The 29-cent stamp features Rockwell's Triple Self-Portrait, a 1960 The Saturday Evening Post cover. The souvenir sheet features one of his most famous works, the Four Freedoms, a series of four paintings — Freedom of Worship, Freedom of Speech, Freedom From Fear, and Freedom From Want.
Norman Rockwell, born February 3, 1894, in New York City, is best known for his covers for The Saturday Evening Post. In 1916, he submitted his first cover painting to The Post. Over the next 47 years, he created 321 original cover illustrations. During these years, he also supplied illustrations for The Ladies' Home Journal, McCall's and Life, and illustrated books such as Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Rockwell died on November 8, 1978, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Designed by Richard Sheaff, the 29-cent stamps were printed in the offset/intaglio process by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Ashton-Potter USA, Ltd., produced the souvenir sheet containing four 50-cent stamps through the offset lithography.