Lesson 2 Into the World of Art
Discovering Norman Rockwell
Welcome everyone to the Norman Rockwell exhibition.
My name is Harris Clark, and I will be your guide today.
Rockwell is one of the most famous American press illustrators and painters of all time.
He produced hundreds of covers for magazines.
The main themes of his art include everyday life, social issues, and his identity as an artist.
Today, we will take a look at the representative work of each theme.
I will help you understand the world of his art better. Come this way.
Doctor and the Doll
Many of Rockwell’s works about everyday life are quite tender.
An example is Doctor and the Doll, produced in 1929.
The little girl, who seems to be about four or five years old, is facing the old man while holding up a doll.
The man is wearing a black suit, and there is a doctor’s bag under the chair.
The girl has already put the doll’s dress under her arm because she wants to get her doll examined by the doctor.
The doctor is going along with her wish and is pretending to listen to the doll’s heart.
He is treating her and her doll carefully.
Doesn’t the look on her face look like a worried mother at the hospital?
Do you think the girl really thinks the doll is sick or she is just playing hospital with the doctor?
This work helps us appreciate the innocence of children.
The girl’s cuteness and the doctor’s kindness evoke a feeling of warmth, bringing tender smiles to viewers’ faces.
Let’s move on to the next one.
Rockwell also produced works about the social issues of the times he was living in.
Let’s take a look at this piece.
This was painted in 1964.
Along the street walks a little African American girl wearing a pure white dress and guarded by people wearing armbands.
A tomato, perhaps thrown at her, is smashed on the ground while juice stains the wall above.
The redness of the tomato easily captures the viewers’ attention.
The title of this work is The Problem We All Live With.
Can you guess what contemporary issue the artist wanted to describe?
It is segregation and racism in the U.S.
This work was inspired by Ruby Bridges’ historic walk.
Ruby was the first African American child to enter an elementary school for white children in New Orleans.
The U.S. Supreme Court had just ruled the segregation of public schools for white and African American students to be unconstitutional.
On her first day of school, she walked past an angry crowd protesting her enrollment at the school for white students.
The historical background made this painting an important symbol of the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S.
The Connoisseur
Now, look at The Connoisseur, created in 1962.
In the painting, an abstract art piece is hung on the wall and a gentleman is looking at it.
The man is painted realistically in Rockwell’s typical style, but the abstract art piece shows splashes of paint in a variety of colors.
Don’t you think that the abstract art is quite different from Rockwell’s realistic works?
Let me explain why he painted it.
After World War II, art critics fascinated by abstract art devalued Rockwell’s realistic style.
In response, Rockwell decided to paint his own abstract painting.
He used the drip technique, which was used by modernist artists at that time.
By combining these different styles in one art piece, Rockwell highlighted his identity as a painter as well as an illustrator.
In addition, we can see the man only from the rear.
Do you think he likes or dislikes the abstract painting?
Rockwell left the interpretation of the gentleman’s reaction to us.
So, did you get an idea of what Norman Rockwell wanted to communicate through his paintings?
When we look at art, it is important to grasp the artists’ intentions behind it.
Still, it goes without saying that it is also important to look at art from various angles and appreciate it in your own way.
I hope you enjoy the rest of the exhibition.
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