American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell
March 8 - May 31, 2009
Wall labels for the exhibition
American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell
Last Updated: July 9, 2008; August 6, 2008; September 8, 2008; December 1, 2008; December 5, 2008
001.Supertitle
American Painter
003.WallQuote
Norman Rockwell's work has shaped the way we see .. and think about the American experience.
004.GSP (Exhibition Intro)
American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell's work is simple...
He depicted common happenings in people's everyday lives. Rockwell's paintings are filled with remarkable detail, humor, and energy. They celebrate small town, rural life and suggest the essential goodness of America.
and it is complex
Rockwell's pictures continue to grow in meaning and significance because of the works' profound effect on American culture. As part of the mass media for decades, Rockwell's images have come to be seen as defining the core American experience. As such, to our twenty-first century eyes, they present complex questions about who and what is American.
Throughout this exhibition...
Explore Rockwell's impact through themes of family, innocence, and heroism. As you look, consider whether you see yourself reflected in the life Rockwell depicts. Or are you and your experiences somewhere beyond the frame of Rockwell's vision of America?
005.TSL
Triple Self-Portrait, 1959
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post cover, February 13, 1960
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
006.EOL
Lubalin Redesigning the Post, 1961
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post cover, September 16, 1961
Oil on canvas
Rockwell portrays his colleague Herbert Lubalin redesigning the Saturday Evening Post logo. The hip, self-assured Lubalin sits in an elegant bentwood chair holding his new design. The clean lines and minimal details demonstrate a modern style that Rockwell admired but didn't adopt. While critics considered Rockwell old-fashioned, the public loved his work.
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
007. TSL
Art Critic, 1955
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post cover, April 16, 1955
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
II. American Illustrator Gallery
008.Supertitle
Becoming America's Illustrator
010. WallQuote
The [Saturday Evening] Post was the greatest show window in America for an illustrator. If you did a cover of the Post, you had arrived.
-- Norman Rockwell
011.GSP (American Illustrator)
Becoming America's Illustrator
It's simple...
You'll see Rockwell's original paintings in this gallery and throughout the exhibition. But these are not the final products. As an illustrator and commercial artist,
Rockwell intended for his images to be reproduced by the thousands and millions. Rockwell made pictures for calendars, advertisements, and magazines. His most successful and lucrative relationship was with the Saturday Evening Post. He sold his first cover illustration to the popular magazine at age twenty-two and continued to do so for nearly fifty years.
and it's complex
Rockwell didn't always have complete artistic freedom. As an illustrator, he was subject to the demands and guidelines of his clients. He had to please a wide public, cater to their tastes, and still maintain a sense of creative expression.
In this gallery...
Explore Rockwell's early career and how he developed a style of his own to emerge as one of America's favorite illustrators.
012.EOL
Artists Costume Ball, 1921
Painting for costume ball poster
Oil on canvas
Rockwell painted this image to advertise a costume ball. Notice the thick brushstrokes and sketchy details. Rockwell probably completed the image in one sitting, showing his ability to express a concept quickly.
Posters of the cheerful clown were auctioned off at the end of the ball, which was a fundraiser for a World War I memorial.
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
Gift of Evelyn F. Hitchcock in memory of Ethan Wolcott Hitchcock
013. Supertitle
Telling Someone Else's Story
014.TSL
Daniel Boone, Pioneer Scout, 1914
Painting for Boy's Life story illustration, July 1914
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
015.TSL
The Road Led through the Passes of the Hills, 1914
Painting for Boy's Life story illustration, September 1914
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
Gift of the Estate of Samuel and Lillian Whinston
016.Group Label
(for Daniel Boone pics)
Telling Someone Else's Story
Rockwell created these images when he was a twenty-year-old art director for Boy's Life, the Boys Scouts of America weekly magazine. The paintings illustrate a story about the American pioneer and folk hero Daniel Boone.
The fringed leather clothing, long-barreled rifle, and covered wagon reveal Rockwell's ability to set a scene by researching period dress and historical events. The figures of Boone, however, appear stiff and share a nearly identical pose. As Rockwell matured as an illustrator, he used expressive facial features and body language to tell more of a story, as you can see in other paintings in this room.
017.TSL
Ichabod Crane, 1937
Unpublished illustration
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust
018.EOL
Artist Facing Blank Canvas (The Deadline), 1938
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post cover, October 8, 1938
Oil on canvas
Rockwell occasionally struggled to generate original ideas for Post covers that would also appeal to a broad audience. Here, he shows himself facing a blank canvas and an oppressive deadline in the upper left.
With this glimpse into his creative life, Rockwell revealed -- and endeared -- himself to Post readers. And he met his deadline.
Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust
019. EOL
Merrie Christmas, 1929
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post cover, December 7, 1929
Oil on canvas
It's simple
For this Christmas issue, Rockwell creates a jolly, plump, red-cheeked man. But it's not Santa. The figure was inspired by the coach driver from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, an author Rockwell's father read to him as a child.
and it's complex
The Dickens reference isn't explicit. And because the Santa-like figure wears clothing from a bygone era, the image gives the olden days a happy, mythic quality. The nostalgia this picture evoked appealed to viewers, and Rockwell cultivated it throughout his career.
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
Gift of the family of John W. Hanes
020.EOL
The Glutton, 1923
Painting for Life cover, November 22, 1923
Oil on canvas
Rockwell puts an ironic twist on the theme of Thanksgiving for this cover of Life, which was then a humor magazine. Rockwell takes a Thanksgiving stereotype -- a pilgrim -- and makes him a skinny glutton. Locked up in stocks, the regretful pilgrim looks out at us as if warning against the familiar hazard of holiday overeating.
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
021. Supertitle
Finding His Niche
022.SP
The Impact of Finding a Niche
It's simple
Many illustrators worked for the Saturday Evening Post, but Rockwell was a favorite. Every time Rockwell's illustrations appeared on the cover, magazine sales increased. The three paintings along this wall demonstrate characteristics that made him stand out. Rockwell
-- celebrated everyday matters of small town life
-- featured inconsequential problems, not, as he put it, "agonizing tangles of life"
-- exaggerated characters' expressions and poses to convey individuality
-- injected humor in his images, making viewers smile
and it's complex
Rockwell's idealized versions of small towns, Middle America, and simple, happy times defined for millions what's best about America. A perhaps unintended consequence of his popularity was that his focus on some aspects of American life came to represent all of it, often excluding the rich and complicated diversity of American experiences. Rockwell himself came to this conclusion as you'll see later in this exhibition.
023.TSL
The Law Student, 1927
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post cover, February 19, 1927
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
024. EOL
Welcome to Elmville, 1929
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post cover, April 20, 1929
Oil on canvas
The sheriff crouches, stopwatch in hand, whistle in mouth. Pale streaks across the bottom of the canvas represent a car that has sped by. Here, Rockwell creates an image to illustrate a trend reported in the news. Rather than increase taxes on residents, towns had police set up speed traps to raise money through fines.
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
025.EOL
Brass Merchant, 1934
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post cover, May 19, 1934
Oil on canvas
A young, elegant woman and an older, scruffy merchant go toe-to-toe, battling for the better deal. This picture is an example of Rockwell's ability to allow his audience to participate in the storytelling. Viewers can try to figure out how these two got to this frenzied state of negotiations, decide who out bargains the other, and who wins this little conflict.
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
III. American Family Gallery
027.Supertitle
Creating the American Family
029. WallQuote
I paint life as I would like it to be.
-Norman Rockwell
030. GSP
Creating the American Family
It's simple
The subject of the family provided Rockwell endless opportunities to explore storylines filled with love, affection, and humor. His families were free of difficulties such as disease, loneliness, and death. He knew that uplifting sentiments appealed to people's emotions, and he used such elements effectively in his commercial and advertising work.
and it's complex
Rockwell's paintings of family can be at once rigid and flexible. His visual definition of family tends to consist of married parents, children, and grandparents. But they are overwhelmingly white, middle class, and seemingly heterosexual. At the same time, Rockwell's pictures also suggest that family is an idea-one where bonds can extend beyond the nuclear family to include friends and communities.
As you explore this gallery
Consider what resonates with you-and what's missing. Do any of Rockwell's images mirror your family or experiences? Do his interpretations of family cause you to consider how you define family?
031.TSL
Christmas Homecoming, 1948
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post cover, December 25, 1948
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
032.EOL
Family Tree, 1959
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post cover, October 24, 1959
Oil on canvas
It's simple
Rockwell called the child at the top of this imaginary family tree the "all-American" boy and loved the idea that the youngster could be the descendant of a pirate. When asked about the negative connotations, Rockwell explained that everyone has "a horse thief or two in the family."
and it's complex
The statement raises intriguing questions. Does the all-American boy represent a purified end to a problematic past? Or does the image suggest that "all American" has always included a wide range of people and cultural influences?
Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust
033.GL
(intergenerational group)
The Wisdom of Elders
The two paintings to your left celebrating intergenerational relationships were made to sell products. The image of the elderly Civil War veteran enthralling a boy with war stories had the tagline, "If your wisdom teeth could talk, they'd say 'Use Colgate's [toothpaste]."
The image of the farmer and the boy illustrated a tractor calendar for Ford Motor Company. The theme of the nurturing elder is echoed by the robin hovering in concern for its chick.
The tender feelings the images evoke were intended to help sales. But neither shows a product, suggesting that Rockwell used such opportunities to sell other things -- in these instances, loving respect between elders and children.
034.TSL
If Your Wisdom Teeth Could Talk They'd Say "Use Colgate's," 1924
Painting for Colgate dental cream advertisement, 1924
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
035.TSL
The Stay at Homes (Outward Bound), 1927
Painting for Ladies' Home Journal illustration, October 1927
Oil on canvas
A small boy wears a sailor suit. His grandfather, in a navy captain's hat, holds him close. They watch a departing ship that represents the generation of this sailing family leaving for the high seas.
Rockwell did not make this picture for commercial purposes. Instead, this painting is his own independent expression, revealing the value he had for nurturing intergenerational relationships.
Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust
036.TSL
Farmer and Little Boy Holding a Bird, date unknown
Oil on canvas
Courtesy of Ford Motor Company
037.EOL
I'm Thinking About My Kiddie, 1922
Painting for Raybestos brake parts advertisement
Oil on canvas
It's simple
The painting almost looks like a black-and-white snapshot, capturing a pretty woman in her car with her daughter.
and it's complex
This image was part of an ad for automobile brakes. It subtly plays on people's sense of fear for their families' safety. The mother's protective arm around her daughter's shoulder and the directness of their gazes confront viewers with what's at stake.
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
038.TSL
Going and Coming, 1947
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post cover, August 30, 1947
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust
039.EOL
Christmas Eve in Bethlehem, 1970
Painting for Look story illustration, "Uneasy Christmas in the Birthplace of Christ," December 29, 1970
Oil on canvas
It's simple
Rockwell depicts Christmas Eve in Bethlehem shortly after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war when Israel gained control of the area. An American family, Israeli soldiers, and a Muslim Arab observe a procession into a church believed to stand where Jesus was born.
and it's complex
Rockwell includes the American family to make the Middle East conflict accessible to American audiences. At the same time, audiences could feel reassured of the family's safety; as tourists, the Americans could easily leave the troubled land.
Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust
040.EOL
Checkers, 1928
Painting for Ladies' Home Journal story illustration, July 1929
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
041.TSL
Community Supper, date unknown
Oil on canvas
Courtesy of Ford Motor Company
042.GL
The Idea of Family
Throughout his career, Rockwell depicted traditional, nuclear families. But in the paintings to the right and left, Rockwell emphasized the familial bonds that can form between friends and within communities.
To the left, Rockwell illustrates a story about a depressed clown. His circus family conspires to cheer him up by letting him win a high-stakes round of checkers, a game he loves. To the right, individual families gather as a collective community to share each other's company and a meal together.
095.SP (this goes with the Family Video)
Rockwell Families, TV Families
When you think of Rockwell, do you also think of Leave It to Beaver? It may not be a coincidence. Rockwell's images were well established by the time television took root in America in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Rockwell, through print media, and television sitcoms worked in concert, each shaping how family was represented in popular culture.
This video slideshow presents images of television families. Early sitcom families perfectly matched Rockwell's stereotypical nuclear families and domestic harmony. Over the years, television began to fill in the gaps in Rockwell's representations with non-white families, blended families after divorce, unmarried or interracial couples, childless couples, gay parents, and even dysfunctional storylines.
Caption: Norman Rockwell with a television, 1949. Photo by Sam Calder
IV. American Innocence Gallery
044.Supertitle
Making American Innocence
046.WallQuote
With kids... people think of their own youth. Nostalgia sets in.
-- Norman Rockwell
047.GSP
Making American Innocence
It's simple
When Norman Rockwell wanted to express innocence, he painted children. When depicting children, he made them innocents. This simple equation resulted in pictures that project American childhood as carefree and charming.
and it's complex
Some scholars call Rockwell a titan in the industry of innocence-the business of making images of happy kids untouched by hard realities. Rockwell's cheerful pictures prompted viewers to recall similar feelings -- if not similar scenes -- from their childhoods. These happy scenes were ones people wanted to identify with, so the images provided sure-fire boosts to sales of products like cereal and magazines.
In this gallery
Explore Rockwell's idealization of childhood innocence. You'll also find imagery implying an understanding that adulthood and the reality of American life are filled with complicated issues of race, class, and gender.048.TSL, illustrated
Beanie, 1954
Painting for Kellogg Company Corn Flakes advertisement
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
Gift of Kellogg Company
049.TSL, illustrated
Freckles, 1954
Painting for Kellogg Company Corn Flakes advertisement
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
Gift of Kellogg Company
050.TSL, illustrated
Sis, 1954
Painting for Kellogg Company Corn Flakes advertisement
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
Gift of Kellogg Company
051.TSL, illustrated
Girl with String, 1955
Painting for Kellogg Company Corn Flakes advertisement
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
Gift of Kellogg Company
052.GL
(Kelloggs kids)
Fresh Faces and Kellogg's Cereal
These paintings were part of a new and extremely effective advertising campaign for Kellogg's cereal company, based in Battle Creek, Michigan. The strategy was to associate Kellogg's with the immensely popular Norman Rockwell. For the company's Corn Flakes, Rockwell deployed his signature images of enthusiastic, innocent kids. Happy and healthy children's faces beamed out from store displays and magazine print ads. From store shelves, these cute, freckled, white children made their way to millions of households. As the images sat on kitchen tables across the country, they helped define the 1950s norm for what American children looked like.
053.TSL
No Swimming, 1921
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post cover, June 4, 1921
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust
054.EOL, illustrated
Day in the Life of a Little Girl, 1952
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post cover, August 30, 1952
Oil on canvas
It's simple
Rockwell creates twenty-two miniature pictures to describe a girl's energetic, free-spirited antics -- as well as a bit of puppy love.
and it's complex
In a similar painting about a boy's day, a girl appears five times. In this painting, a boy occupies eleven scenes, so boys seem to be a bigger factor in girls' lives than vice versa. When you think of girls' lives today, more than fifty years later, how relevant or accurate is Rockwell's interpretation?
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
CAPTION: Norman Rockwell, A Day in the Life of a Boy, 1952
055.EOL
A Scout is Helpful 1939
Painting for Boy Scouts of America calendar, 1941
Oil on canvas
Rockwell produced this illustration for a Boy Scouts of America calendar. Compare the boy's unfazed concentration to the girl's upturned, grateful eyes. This image represented boys as courageous and responsible at the same time that it suggests who needs protection -- girls in distress and helpless animals.
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
000.GL
Being Boys and Girls
It's simple
The three paintings in this area highlight the carefree and mischievous fun of youth for boys and girls.
and it's complex
Rockwell often portrayed women and girls as feisty and clever. Yet stereotypes about what girls and boys were interested in and responsible for still emerged.
As you look, compare what is pictured not just to your own experiences growing up, but also to the ideas conveyed about the lives of boys and girls in America.
056.Supertitle
Showing Innocence Lost
057.TSL
The Discovery, 1956
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post cover, December 29, 1956
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust
058.EOL
Girl at Mirror, 1954
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post cover, March 6, 1954
Oil on canvas
It's simple
She's cast her doll aside. She's tied up her little-girl braids and wears lipstick to look like the woman in the magazine. She's growing up.
and it's complex
That's not just any pretty woman in the magazine. Rockwell chose the 1950s sex symbol Jane Russell, known for her voluptuous figure and sultry roles.
The girl's wistful expression seems to convey awkwardness with her own emerging sexuality and the insecurities that arise when facing media representations of womanhood.
Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust
059.TSL
Girl Reading the Post, 1941
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post cover, March 1, 1941
Oil on board
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
Gift of the Walt Disney Family
060.EOL
Boy in the Dining Car, 1946
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post cover, December 7, 1946
Oil on canvas
It's simple
He's traveling on a train alone, trying to figure out the tip on his bill. The kindly waiter witnesses this small transition into adulthood.
and it's complex
Rockwell was bound by a Saturday Evening Post rule that prohibited showing persons of color on the cover except as servants. This image reveals subtle lessons that this child -- and Post readers in the 1940s -- learned about who serves, who is served, and their positions in a race- and class-conscious society.
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
V. American Heroism Gallery
061.Supertitle
Defining American Heroism
063.WallQuote
I wanted to do something bigger... make some statement about why the country was fighting the war.
-- Norman Rockwell
064.GSP
Defining American Heroism
It's simple
During World War II, Rockwell did not depict the violence of battlefields and combat situations. Instead, he mined his familiar subjects -- workers, families, and tight-knit communities -- to explore the impact of great national struggles on the home front. He cast everyday Americans as heroes, focusing on personal sacrifice and duty to the nation.
and it's complex
You may already be familiar with many of the images in these next areas. Rockwell created pictures for a particular moment and reason -- to give Americans a sense of purpose and impart calm during WWII. These same images have become inextricably associated with ideas about American patriotism, freedom, and justice.
065.TSL
War News, 1944
Unpublished
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
066.EOL
Mine America's Coal, 1944
Painting for the U.S. Office of War Information poster, 1944
Oil on canvas
It's simple
Rockwell created this image for a World War II poster recruiting coal workers to meet the war's energy needs. While other poster artists emphasized fear of the enemy, Rockwell features a middle-aged American gladly doing his patriotic duty.
and it's complex
Viewers during the war years would have recognized that the miner's two-star pin meant he had two sons serving in the war. Rockwell wanted to convey a father's quiet courage and heroism to motivate others to sacrifice for the war effort as the miner has.
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
067.SP
Rockwell Four Freedoms
It's simple
One million of these posters were printed in 1942 and given to people who bought bonds to aid U.S. war efforts. Rockwell created the images based on President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 "Four Freedoms" speech, outlining four human rights -- freedom of speech, freedom from want, freedom from fear, and freedom of worship.
Rockwell's posters made heroes of the everyday Americans whose small, individual purchases of bonds added up to $133 million in support of the war.
and it's complex
Rockwell gave Americans a powerful way to visualize the abstract freedoms in Roosevelt's speech. Viewers could see themselves in the people and situations Rockwell depicted.
Yet the very power of the images perhaps changed Roosevelt's message. The president aspired for these basic human rights to be achieved throughout the world. By featuring American families, children, and communities, Rockwell makes these freedoms most fundamentally American.
069. EOL (this is actually a caption for a photomural)
Rockwell's Four Freedoms in Detroit
More than one million people saw Rockwell's original paintings, which toured to sixteen cities, including Detroit, where they were exhibited at the Hudson's store downtown.
Four Freedoms on display at J. L. Hudson's in Detroit, 1943.
070.TSL
Freedom of Speech, 1943
War Bond Poster
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
071.TSL
Freedom from Want, 1943
War Bond Poster
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
072.TSL
Freedom of Worship, 1943
War Bond Poster
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
073.TSL
Freedom from Fear, 1943
War Bond Poster
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
075.TSL
Portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1952
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post story illustration, October 11, 1952
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
076.TSL
Portrait of John F. Kennedy, 1960
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post cover, October 29, 1960
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
077.TSL
The Peace Corps (JFK's Bold Legacy), 1966
Painting for Look cover and story illustration, June 14, 1966
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust
078.GL
Presidents as People
When Rockwell created these portraits of Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy, Americans had a strong tendency to heroize their leaders, particularly those with impressive military credentials. Eisenhower had been the illustrious commander of the Allied forces during WWII and John F. Kennedy, a highly decorated naval captain.
Nothing in Rockwell's portraits, however, gives them away as military heroes. Rather, Rockwell invites viewers to look into the men's faces and get to know them as individuals.
079.Supertitle
Reframing American Heroism
080.WallQuote
I was born a white Protestant with some prejudices that I am continuously trying to eradicate... I am angry at unjust prejudices, in other people and myself.
-- Norman Rockwell, 1962
081.SP
Redefining Heroism
It's simple
Rockwell saw his brand of heroism-patience, personal sacrifice, and strength of will -- in people involved in the Civil Rights struggles of the 1950s and '60s. As his recognition of racial injustice grew, so did his restlessness with the Saturday Evening Post.
Until the 1960s, the conservative magazine held to its policy to only show African Americans on the cover as servants. Rockwell found more meaningful assignments at Look magazine.
and it's complex
The news regularly covered police brutality against black freedom marchers and white protestors of desegregation, as well as other incidents of racial tension. Americans could see the injustice. Rockwell wanted them to feel it.
He used his storytelling skills to portray the isolation and psychological vulnerability caused by racism. Viewers had to think about how Rockwell's scenes had unfolded and more importantly, to imagine the subjects' emotions. Rockwell also featured white Americans involved in struggles for racial justice, which helped many among his loyal audience to identify with African Americans.
082.EOL
Lincoln for the Defense, 1961
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post story, "Lincoln for the Defense" by Elisa Bialik, February 10, 1962
Oil on canvas
It's simple
Rockwell depicts Abraham Lincoln's most notable trial as a young lawyer. He had successfully defended William "Duff" Armstrong, an African American who had been unjustly accused of murder.
and it's complex
Rockwell creates a viewpoint where Lincoln soars skyward, so we look up to him as the hero. Armstrong sits in the shadows, his face obscured. This image reminded viewers of Lincoln's appeals for racial justice in a way that many white Americans could be comfortable with.
Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust
083.GL
Picturing a Murder in Mississippi
It's simple... and it's complex.
The painting to your left depicts three Civil Rights workers, James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman, who were killed by a Ku Klux Klan mob indicated only by long shadows. To the right, you will see some of Rockwell's research into the 1964 hate crime, including news articles, handwritten notes, drawings, and photographs he collected.
Rockwell depicts Chaney, the African American who had been savagely beaten, clinging to Schwerner. Goodman lies shot on the ground. Rockwell's son Jarvis posed as Schwerner, who faces the mob and certain death. Placing his own son in the scene likely helped Rockwell imagine the terror and injustice regularly perpetrated against African Americans.
Murder in Mississippi, April 6-13, 1965
Painting intended as the final illustration for Look story, "Southern Justice" by Charles Morgan, Jr., June 29, 1965. Unpublished
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
084.TSL
Murder in Mississippi, 1965
Preliminary sketch published as the final illustration for Look story, "Southern Justice" by Charles Morgan, Jr., June 29, 1965
Oil on board
Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust
090.TSL
Jarvis Rockwell Poses as Michael Schwerner; Oliver McCary Poses as James Chaney, March 22, 1965
Reference photo by Louie Lamone
Gelatin silver print
Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust, Studio Collection
091.TSL
Charges These Nine Men -- and Deputy Price -- Were Named as Members of the Lynch Mob, date unknown
Publication unknown
Digital print from archival negative
Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust, Studio Collection
092.TSL
Event, 1965
Norman Rockwell
Typewritten notes on Norman Rockwell stationery
Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust, Studio Collection
093.TSL
Victims, about 1965
Norman Rockwell
Pencil on paper, two pages
Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust, Studio Collection
094.TSL
Aid from the Padre, 1962
Hector Rondon, La Republica
Tear sheet
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
085.EOL
The Problem We All Live With, 1963
Painting for Look illustration, January 14, 1964
Oil on canvas
It's simple
Federal marshals escort a steadfast six-year-old girl as she integrates an all white school. A tomato splatter suggests violence; a racist epithet on the wall represents slurs shouted by white protestors.
and it's complex
Rockwell built a career depicting happy, carefree children, so this portrayal of hatred and abuse aimed at a small girl made a powerful statement. Many Americans were able to see and imagine the psychological and emotional isolation of racism through a child's experience.
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
The Problem We All Live With, 1963
Painting for Look illustration, January 14, 1964
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection
088. EOL [place near audiotour drop off]
Exhibition Photo Mural Credits
Gallery 1
Norman Rockwell in his Main Street, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, studio, 1954. Photo by Bill Scovill
Gallery 2
Norman Rockwell with Artist Facing Blank Canvas, his painting for The Saturday Evening Post cover, October 8, 1938. Photo by Richard Wryley Birch, 1938
Gallery 3
Norman Rockwell and son Jarvis posing for Christmas Homecoming, 1948. Photo by Gene Pelham
Gallery 4
Norman Rockwell posing son Peter for Boy in a Dining Car, 1946. Photo by Gene Pelham
Gallery 5
Norman Rockwell with The Problem We All Live With in his South
Street, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, studio, 1964. Photo by Louie Lamone
Return to American
Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell
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