American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell

On Saturday, January 22, 2011, we took a day trip to Raleigh, North Carolina. Ruth and I, mostly Ruth, my travel planner, best friend and love of my life, had been planning this trip for months. Raleigh is only a short drive from Southside Virginia. Consequently, we were able to return home that night.

The trip we took was one that I, as a Norman Rockwell collector and enthusiast, had been anticipating for some time.

The North Carolina Museum of Art was hosting an exhibit organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The exhibit, while not showing all of the paintings in the museum's vast collection, did encompass all of the different periods of Rockwell's artwork.

The exhibit featured forty original paintings, with helpful signage explaining the year the piece was painted and also when and where each painting was published.

The first painting was the perennial favorite, Triple Self Portrait, from 1960.

Triple Self Portrait
Norman Rockwell - 1960

Other paintings of note on display included Girl at Mirror (1954), Day in the Life of a Little Girl (1952), No Swimming (1921), The Stay at Homes (Outward Bound) (1927), The Peace Corps (1966), Family Tree (1959), The Problem We All Live With (1963), Going and Coming (1947), more than I need to individually name here.

Also on display were two Daniel Boone paintings from Boys' Life from 1914.

The Norman Rockwell "expert" in me was absolutely tickled to see a painting I had never seen or heard of before. This was a 1921 painting of a clown entitled Artists Costume Ball. I now wish that I snuck a photograph of that painting, but I obeyed the rules. No photography or sketching allowed.

One entire room toward the middle point of the exhibit was dedicated to displaying a complete set of Norman Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post covers. All 323 Saturday Evening Post covers were presented in chronological order, starting with the first, Boy with Baby Carriage, from 1916 and finishing up with Portrait of John F. Kennedy from 1963.

In addition, another room featured four full size War Bond posters featuring Rockwell's Four Freedoms paintings. These original full size posters measure 39 inches by 56 inches each and are uplifting to behold. The set of four was dramatically displayed on one wall, accompanied by a wall sized photograph of Rockwell painting Freedom to Worship on the adjacent wall.

Another highlight of the exhibition was a multimedia presentation that was narrated by Rockwell's son Peter. The documentary was very informative about Rockwell's life and showed many of his paintings in the presentation.

The exhibit ended with two entire rooms dedicated to Rockwell's 1965 painting, Murder in Mississippi, his interpretation of the 1964 murder of three civil rights workers. This display showed materials that Rockwell used to research and stage his painting: newspaper and magazine tear sheets, photographs and letters. Also available for viewing were both the color study painting that Look magazine published in 1965 and the finished, unpublished painting. This unusual circumstance, where the study was published and the finished painting was not, arose because both Norman Rockwell and the Look editor felt the study conveyed more raw emotion than the finished painting.

We finished our day trip with a late lunch in the same general area as the musuem. We decided to try a new restaurant, new for us anyway.

We enjoyed hamburgers and pasta at Backyard Bistro, which is located near the RBC Center. Backyard Bistro is obviously a sports bar. The walls are decorated with Carolina Hurricanes and NC State Wolfpack logos and photos. One whole wall of the restaurant is covered with five large televisions. One very neat feature that I had never experienced before: the bar and some of the tables has a small speaker system where you dial in the sound from whichever television you want to watch and hear. That was a great idea implemented well at Backyard Bistro. The beer selection was good as well, featuring over 20 selections from many different tastes.

If you decide to take a day trip to the NC Museum of Art for the Norman Rockwell exhibition, through January 30, 2011, be sure to leave early. We arrived early enough that we did not have to wait in line except to purchase tickets ($15.00 each). We could have avoided that line by purchasing the tickets online and picking them up at the "Will Call" window there. Here is the link to buy Norman Rockwell Exhibition tickets.

The exhibit was very crowded. What would you expect, Norman Rockwell is America's favorite illustrator. His works appeal to a broad audience, young and old. The earlier you arrive, the more likely you are to beat the crowd. And, of course a weekday excursion will also lessen your wait time.

To get to the North Carolina Museum of Art, drive to Durham and catch the Durham Freeway over to Interstate 40. Bear off to the right on the Wade Avenue exhibit, continue past the RBC Center and then just follow the museum signs. The museum is located at 2110 Blue Ridge Road.

__________

Keith McDonald, is an avid Norman Rockwell paper collector and pharmacist. Read other articles, and see rare Rockwell art at Best Norman Rockwell Art .com.

__________