Norman Rockwell 1894 - 1978

"He is called an "illustrator" instead of an artist by some critics, a designation he did not mind, as it was what he called himself"
Rockwell quotes:
"Commonplaces never become tiresome. It is we who become tired when we cease to be curious and appreciative."
"If a picture wasn't going very well, I'd put a puppy in it.”
"Many of his works appear overly sweet in modern critics' eyes, especially the Saturday Evening Post covers, which tend toward idealistic or sentimentalized portrayals of American life—"
..and then in the 60's...
"In his later years, Rockwell began receiving more attention as a painter when he chose more serious subjects such as the series on racism."
"For 47 years, I portrayed the best of all possible worlds – grandfathers, puppy dogs – things like that. That kind of stuff is dead now, and I think it’s about time.”

quotes from Wikipedia