The Norman Rockwell Museum tells the story of Rockwell’s life and work through his paintings. There are three large floor to ceiling walls of framed magazine covers. So many that it’s almost overwhelming.
A film tells his life story.
There’s also a full gallery of his paintings including some that seemed kind of obscure to me and others that are almost infamous.
One of the reasons I like Rockwell’s work is that he had a way of telling stories of everyday life with only imagery. You can tell what they’re thinking and feeling and you don’t need a card next to it on the wall to know exactly what’s happening. It’s a study on the beauty of life.
This is one of my favorites. From November 1945, it’s titled “Thanksgiving: Mother and Son Peeling Potatoes.” He gives us a seemingly simple scene. They’re in the kitchen, chatting while he helps her prepare the meal.
He’s a soldier, freshly home and still in his uniform but he’s wearing civilian shoes. He seems content to be back in the warmth of his mother’s kitchen but the chair he’s perched on looks too small.
He has outgrown it somehow but he sits with feet up like a little boy would.
Look closer.
He has creases in his forehead and lines on his hands. The time away has aged him. The young man has returned home a soldier. Look at how natural and realistic his hands are. It’s almost like a photo.
Now consider his mother. This is the face of a woman who has spent many a sleepless night praying for her son. In this moment, she can scarcely believe he’s here. Look at the way she gazes at him as though she wonders if this is a dream.
Their surroundings tell a story of harvest and abundance with a pan of cranberries and a pumpkin on the floor. Is that a bushel basket of apples? A mixing bowl, preserves, a couple of oranges and that bright pop of red in the tablecloth tell a story of country folk who will use what they have to make this the best Thanksgiving they’ve ever known.
But her soldier is home so it will be the very best even if the potatoes turn out lumpy.
This is true Americana and it really is one of my favorite paintings of his. But there are so many more.
Like this one of a lineman in 1947.
And a coal miner in 1944.
They both look like they could step off the canvas and set down the road toward home.
Of course, everyone clamors to see this fifties era view of Stockbridge, his adopted hometown. It’s one of his most requested and recognizable works.
He used models. Often the models were folks right there in the county. Some he used more than once.
His paintings tend to tell the stories of the small towns and the dying ways of the people who made this country great with their heads bowed in prayer, their hands grimy from hard work, and their eyes raised up in hope for the future.
He made a series called “The Four Freedoms” based on President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s declaration that the U.S. would fight for:
Freedom of Speech.
Freedom of Worship.
Freedom of Fear.
And Freedom of Want.
So, friends, this was the inspiration for our trip to Stockbridge, Massachusetts and I am so glad we went.
There are many more paintings I could share with you today but I’m thinking we may hold onto a few to revisit some winter day when we are all itching to hit the road.
Want to visit this museum? Click here for their website.
Saturday’s adventures took me to a place that has been on my to do list for most of my adult life. Seems like I read an article about it in Victoria Magazine when I was a teenager but somehow never found my way there. It’s called Hartman Rock Garden and, while small, it’s one of the most extraordinary folk art sites you’ll find in Ohio.
It all began when Springfield resident Harry George “Ben” Hartman was laid off from his job in 1932. He was a molder at the Springfield Machine Tool Company foundry. The Great Depression was tightening its grip on the country, work was hard to find, and he was not impressed with all his newfound free time. So what’s a guy to do? He set to work building a cement fishing pond in his back yard. He enjoyed that so much he began building all sorts of miniature buildings and characters throughout his back yard.
He left words of encouragement in the stone including the phrases “let us smile” and “seek the good life” for visitors to enjoy these many years later.
Hartman created a truly unique stone garden using hundreds of thousands of stones before his death in 1944. His wife Mary took on the role of maintaining his work, planting flowers and keeping it open to visitors until her death in 1997. While we call it a rock garden, Mary referred to it as a “garden of love.”
After her passing, the garden fell into a state of disrepair and was facing a bulldozer. That’s when the Kohler Foundation stepped in to buy the property and restore the garden. The Kohler company is know for faucets but the foundation is known for preserving bits of Americana across the country. Today, the garden is run by a local nonprofit organization and a small army of volunteers who are keeping it going.
This is a great little side trip if you’re in the Springfield area. Just remember that this is folk art and it is quite old so don’t go looking for perfection. While there were a few of us oohing and aahing over things, there was some guy complaining that he expected to to be nicer. Don’t be that guy, please.
Get the address and other details over at their 