Born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1921, Norman Rubington studied at the Yale School of Fine Arts and Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris where he participated in a number of group exhibitions and his first solo show at the Salon d'Automne, which received high acclaim. Following his studies, Rubington returned to the States and exhibited in a series of shows in Boston, New York and San Francisco.

Rubington was awarded a grant from the Tiffany Foundation, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Prix de Rome prize and was a fellow of the McDowell Art Colony in New Hampshire. Rubington exhibited at the Salon d'Automne, Paris, City Center, New York, Carl Siembab Gallery, Boston, Berman Museum of Art, Pennsylvania, American Academy, Rome, Museum of Fine Arts, San Francisco, Corcoran Gallery, Washington D.C., Art Institute of Chicago, American Art Gallery, Copenhagen, Rome Art Club, and Museo Berera, Milan.

Rubington's work is held in numerous private and public collections including permanent collections of the Hirschorn Museum, Washington, D.C., San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, Obelisk Gallery, London, Court Gallery, Copenhagen, Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, Yale University, Connecticut and Mary Washington College, Virginia.