You know what, though? Despite my disagreement at the idea that men & boys, women & girls should lead such different lives with men at the head of it all, I, too, find Normal Rockwell paintings to be a nice slice of Americana, expressing some progressive ideas. He showed races together, religions together, old and young people together, people expressing humility in their foibles, people being gracious, kind, inclusive, thankful, mannerly, etc. He showed the professional in kindly relations with the lowly. He painted people drawing on their inner strength and doing what needed to be done, yet he also presented appreciation for the goodness of play. He showed lots of ugly, gawky, skinny, and fat people being just as much a part of life as the beautifully healthy-bodied people. A lot of his paintings were actually advertising or magazine covers, but many of them were advertising/celebrating something that was open to all--a good life, good character, and openness to others. I'm no art critic and am only drawing on memories of Rockwells I've seen in reproductions, but I guess he has made an impression on me and I don't mind him going down in history as an American illustrator.
You know that famous Thanksgiving Day painting? I have a version of it in which the faces of my son, my husband, and myself have been photo-shopped in. Someone who did not know the Rockwell painting saw it and though it was really my family gathered with friends for Thanksgiving. I felt so complimented and to tell the truth, I think our faces look right at home in the painting!
Rockwell paintings remind me of Mark Twain writings. It is easy to dismiss them as saccharin storytelling if you don't look/read closely and with a sense of history. Twain seems so ahead of his time, and I think he is a good representative of what The US has been and tries to be. Likewise, the paintings of Rockwell.
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