My Least Favourite Artist Ever

I'm in a class called 'Limits of the Avant-Garde' and it's amazing. If you're into various kind of crazy art movements and you like making creative projects rather than writing essays and you're in MIT take it next year. Anyhow, in said class we discuss why some art movements came to be; what fueled them (my favourite is the Situationists). Today we discussed post-modern art movements, and aggregator art. This got me thinking about meaning behind certain artists that are not necessarily Avant-garde. Immediately I thought of my least favourite artist ever. Norman Rockwell.
Why do I dislike him? Maybe it's things like this, “If a picture wasn't going very well, I'd put a puppy in it.” That's a direct quote. From what I have gathered from his website and work I have seen what drives him is innocence. He wants to portray an innocent America that is pure and whimsical. He paints the world as he would like it to be. I guess sure, fine, that's meaning... but I don't think it's very bold, or even original. I have no clue how the man became an icon. I don't really like the meaning behind it, and I really don't like the aesthetic appearance of his art. Forgive me for being rash or harsh, but it's just plain TACKY.