Whenever I am in that mood, I love spending an evening alone (like tonight), snuggled in my couch (Copland or Gershwin music playing in the background) poring over the Norman Rockwell artbooks which I had lugged back from the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge Massachusetts three years ago. I personally don't think there is a better or more enjoyable way of learning about American history or the psyche of its people at that time than looking at and reading about Norman Rockwell's paintings.
Norman Rockwell is of course famous for his depictions of American life in the world war and post-war years. The Saturday Morning and Evening Posts cover has become almost synonymous with American illustrative art in the 20th century. There's something about them which a Times magazine photographer now might find hard to replicate.
Norman Rockwell is of course famous for his depictions of American life in the world war and post-war years. The Saturday Morning and Evening Posts cover has become almost synonymous with American illustrative art in the 20th century. There's something about them which a Times magazine photographer now might find hard to replicate.
This is a master storyteller. Here are a few of my favorites.
Going and Coming (Saturday Morning Post cover, 30 Aug 1947)
The details are amazing here. The top picture shows an enthusiastic family going for a boat trip in the morning, the bottom picture a much more fatigued group. Notice the perfect knots that tie the boat in the top and the frayed ropes at the bottom. Only grandma remains unchanged.
The details are amazing here. The top picture shows an enthusiastic family going for a boat trip in the morning, the bottom picture a much more fatigued group. Notice the perfect knots that tie the boat in the top and the frayed ropes at the bottom. Only grandma remains unchanged.
The Gossips (Saturday Evening Post cover, March 6, 1948)
Each person here was a real life model from Rockwell's neighborhood in Vermont. They had no idea that they would be part of this depiction of America's favorite past time! Rockwell added himself and his wife Mary in the picture to take the sting out of the commentary.
The Marriage License (1955)
This is one of the saddest paintings I have ever seen. I stood in front of it for almost 20 minutes at the Stockbridge museum when I first saw it. It is based on a real incident that happened in the town that Rockwell lived in shortly before he painted this. The marriage registry clerk in the painting had just lost his wife a few weeks ago. Notice the cigarette butts on the floor, and the cat which looks like it has not been fed for a while. The clerk's posture is in contrast to the hopeful stance of the newly wed couple in the picture.
Saying Grace (1951) This one tells of a rare moment in American history where the faithless wonder about the Faith.
ok, I will stop posting now. But there are so many wonderful stories to tell through through pictures.
