Art In Action: Goodbye Santa
By DARLA MCCAMMON
Lakeland Art Association
WARSAW — Norman Rockwell did over 4,000 paintings in his life. Most of us know him because of his work for the Saturday Evening Post and the Coca-Cola Company. His work was also commissioned for illustrating many books such as Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and 38 others. His portraits were also in high demand and he did portraits of Eisenhower, Kennedy Johnson, Nixon and many famous folks including a wonderful one of Colonel Sanders in 1973.
Rockwell was affiliated with, and dedicated to. the Boy Scouts for years and years. He donated work for the Boy Scout calendars for over fifty years. He was also paid a paltry $50 for his work for the Scout magazine giving them one cover and illustrations for the stories inside each month. He never left the Scouts but his professional career as an artist kept him extremely busy as he also did movie promotion ads, designs for stamps, sheet music, even murals.
Rockwell humbly called himself an illustrator and jealous critics denigrated his work as not being culturally significant. They were proven wrong when famous auction houses raised millions from the sale of his work after his death.
In this three-week series especially for the Christmas season, we have talked about Rockwell’s thirty-plus versions of Santa Claus. I hope you have enjoyed this still popular artist. We do need to remember that he was extraordinarily talented at putting a story into most of his work. These were stories that needed no words. One understood the message instantly, from his famous “four Freedoms” work, to our current views of a few of his Santa Claus images.
All art is an expression from the heart of the originator, so when a writer such as Nabokov condescendingly said he was not a “serious painter” and Wikipedia quoted Nabokov by saying “That Dali is really Norman Rockwell’s twin brother kidnapped by Gypsies in babyhood.” I find it offensive and snobbish. What is your opinion of work by Norman Rockwell?
Rockwell did include work that carried a message about serious social issues confronting our society. One of his most famous was the incredible painting of the young black girl, Ruby Bridges in her delicate little white dress being escorted to school by Federal Marshals. Deep thought and emotion went into this work and it evokes all kinds of emotional response when you view it. Yes, in my view, Rockwell was the epitome of a great artist. I hope you have enjoyed learning more about him.
Upcoming and Current Events:
- Paul Ramain exhibit at Warsaw City Hall. Open8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Free Admission. Ramain is changing this exhibit frequently, so be sure to make return visits till it closes at the end of December.
- Christmas Boutique at Lakeland Art Association. Find lovely creative and innovative items including paintings, crafts and more! Located at 302 E. Winona Avenue, Warsaw. Open at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
- Coming Jan. 3, a wonderful exhibit by Sherrie Johnson at Warsaw City Hall.
- Coming February, top students from Grace College return with winning work.
For more information on topics in this column, please contact Darla McCammon at [email protected] or (574) 527-4044. Older columns at www.darlamc.com