 During the Cold War , Rockwell 's images affirmed traditional American values , depicting Americans as prosperous and free . Rockwell 's work came to be categorized within art movements and styles such as Regionalism and American scene painting . Rockwell 's work sometimes displays an idealized vision of America 's rural and agricultural past . Rockwell summed up his own idealism : " I paint life as I would like it to be . " 
