ROCKWELL'S AMERICA : STOCKBRIDGE. A PERFECT PORTRAIT OF A NEW ENGLAND VILLAGE.

Byline: Jack Severson Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

Childhood is filled with mysteries and countless questions about the world. What holds birds up in the air? How come you can't see wind? Stuff like that.

One of the enduring mysteries of my early life was: If they call it the Saturday Evening Post, how come it comes in the mail on Thursday? Why isn't it the Thursday Evening Post?

The Post was a staple in the coffee-table pile when I was growing up. But there certainly never was any mystery about the magazine's covers, so frequently bearing illustrations by Norman Rockwell. Each of the 321 Post cover images Rockwell executed over a 46-year relationship with the magazine conveyed a message - often humorous, sometimes poignant - that was unmistakably clear.

Now there are those who argue that ``America's Favorite Artist'' was not an artist at all; that he was an illustrator and what he produced was not art. Other critics of Rockwell's work say his illustrations presented an idealized version of American life that never really existed.

I'm no art expert, but to Rockwell's critics I would simply say: Come to Stockbridge.

In many ways, this Berkshire Mountain village, where Rockwell lived and worked for the last quarter-century of his 84-year life, seems an ideal - an unreal version of a small New England town. But it's no ideal - it's the real thing.

And a visit to this attractive hamlet and the Norman Rockwell Museum on its outskirts is enough to convince almost any cynic that charming, small-town New England life does indeed exist and that Rockwell's portrayals of it are, in fact, art.

Beyond Rockwellian pursuits, however, the Stockbridge area has enough going on at any time of year to make the trip worthwhile. For outdoor types, winter offers both cross-country and downhill skiing; the rest of the year there is hiking, biking, sailing, fishing, swimming and a host of other activities. Those whose interests lie in less-active areas will find this part of the Berkshires chockablock with art galleries, antique stores, trendy boutiques and plenty of concerts and stage performances to attend.

On a recent visit, I did a bit of exploring around Stockbridge to get a feel for the town before stopping by the museum.

Stockbridge began life as little more than a wide spot in an 18th-century road through the Berkshires. In the latter half of the 19th century and on into the early part of the 20th, however, its picturesque setting was discovered by several wealthy Easterners who had tired of summering in Newport and other coastal resort areas and built ``cottages'' in and around Stockbridge. These wealthy newcomers brought with them - and imparted to their adopted summer home town - a certain level of worldly sophistication.

The village of today easily merges its small-town feel with the more cosmopolitan atmosphere of an upscale vacation and tourist destination. There is most assuredly an air of sophistication, but it is tempered with the kind of friendliness and honesty so commonly found in Rockwell's illustrations.

It's the kind of town where you are almost embarrassed to lock your car when you park it on the street; where a kid can leave a bike on the front lawn overnight and it will still be there in the morning; where dogs roam unleashed - and unthreatening.

Downtown Stockbridge consists largely of a two-block stretch of Main Street and the block-long Elm Street, which meets Main at the eastern end of downtown. The center is anchored by the Red Lion Inn, a rambling, white, four-story hostelry that has been accepting guests since 1773 and is a favorite of concertgoers attending the summer presentations at Tanglewood, just a few miles north of town in Lenox, Mass.

Just down Main Street is the 1884 House, once the town hall and now a trendy boutique offering men's and women's clothing in traditional styles and fabrics from here and abroad. Next door is a pedestrian walkway called, almost too cutely, the Mews, where shops such as Heirlooms, Hodge Podge and Currier & i purvey antique jewelry, contemporary crafts and gifts.

At the corner of Main and Elm stands the Old Corner House, former home of the Rockwell Museum. The building, dating from the 1790s, now houses medical offices. A right turn onto Elm leads down a short block of more boutiques, galleries, Michael's sports-bar-cum-restaurant, a post office and a bank.

Main Street is lined with magnificent homes, some remnants of the ``cottage'' era. Also on Main is the Mission House, the restored home built in 1739 by the Rev. John Sergeant, who set up housekeeping there while he served as missionary to the area's Mohican Indians. (The house is open daily from Memorial Day through Columbus Day.)

After a morning of reconnoitering in town I headed for the Norman Rockwell Museum, a short drive up Route 102 from the heart of Stockbridge to Route 183. The museum entrance is on Route 183, a half-mile west of the intersection.

The Old Corner House almost immediately proved to be too small for a museum housing the works of an artist as popular as Rockwell and, in 1986, the museum purchased a 40-acre site just outside of town. The new Norman Rockwell Museum opened on April 3, 1993.

The building's design, by Robert A.M. Stern, suggests typical New England architecture - a sprawling, white, clapboard exterior. The museum houses more than 600 Rockwell works, although nowhere near that number are displayed at once.

To walk through the museum's nine galleries is to travel back to a much simpler time in America. That is not to say that Rockwell did not acknowledge what was happening in this country in the later years of his life. His works portraying the changes in American society that were wrought by the '60s and '70s are every bit as evocative - perhaps even more so than - his earlier efforts to define and, yes, idealize, American life.

As I strolled through the galleries, chronicling the artist's life, I felt I came to know Rockwell in a different way. He always seemed accessible, certainly when I was young and looking at those Post covers. But, I must admit, I don't remember his later works - those that so poignantly captured the pain and violence of the civil rights movement, or the triumph and tragedy of the U.S. space program.

But Post covers aside, Rockwell executed nearly 4,000 illustrations during a career that spanned seven decades. He was at one time the art director of Boys' Life, the magazine of the Boy Scouts of America. His work adorned the print advertisements for dozens of products; his portraits of famous Americans are legion; and Rockwell-illustrated calendars were a common sight in middle-class American homes.

There are examples of all this and more. Visitors can get in-depth information about individual works by joining any number of guided tours of the museum that are conducted frequently throughout the day. There is also a gift shop just off the museum's lobby where you can purchase Rockwellian mementos.

The museum is on a hill overlooking the Housatonic River. Not long after the land was purchased, Rockwell's studio, a converted carriage house adjacent to his home in Stockbridge, was moved to the museum land and perched on an overlook above the river valley. A visit to the studio - which contains many Rockwell artifacts, including his easel, brushes, library and props - is included in the museum admission, although the studio is open for visits only from May through October.

During my visit to the Rockwell Museum, I was struck by the painting ``Stockbridge Mainstreet at Christmas.'' Main Street in Stockbridge looks little different today from Rockwell's mid-'50s work. And visiting the town is a bit like visiting the museum, if not the painting. All the nostalgia, all the history, all the talent of Rockwell's work is on display at the Norman Rockwell Museum.

The thing is, you don't have to like the man or his message; you don't even have to appreciate his work, his humor, his attention to detail, or his craftsmanship to make a visit here worthwhile.Whether or not this is ``your'' America, it is the America that generations of Americans grew up with. It came into their house every Saturday.

Well, make that Thursday.

On Location

For information on Stockbridge, contact the Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce, Box 224, Stockbridge, Mass. 01262; [phone]. For information on the Berkshires area, contact the Berkshire Visitors Bureau, [phone].

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos, Box

Photo: (1--Color) The village of Stockbridge, Mass., hasn't changed much since Norman Rockwell painted his ``Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas'' portrait in 1967.

(2--Color) ``Triple Self-Portrait''/The Norman Rockwell Family Trust/From the permanent collection of the Norman Rockwell Museum of Stockbridge

(3--Color) The venerable Red Lion Inn anchors one end of Main Street in Stockbridge, the town where artist Norman Rockwell painted some of his best-known works.

(4) The new Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge features an ever-changing exhibit of the artist's works.

Box: On Location (See Text)