âThe Militarization of the Police Department â Deadly Farce,â an original painting by Richard Williams from âThe 20 Dumbest People, Events, and Things of 2014âł in Mad magazine #531, published by DC Comics, February 2015.
Hereâs the original, for comparison. And hereâs a bit more about the artist and why he created the piece above for MAD Magazine.
Richard Williams on Norman Rockwell:
âFor most people, he was the painter of âAmerica,ââ he added. âBut even he said his vision was what he wanted âAmericaâ to be. It was a mythical âAmerica,â a place where all people were decent, honest and full of good will. His work was full of gentle humor that made you feel a little better; even if you knew it wasnât really true⌠you just wished it was. My parody of Rockwellâs painting simply says, âThat myth is dead.ââ
I think itâs relevant to add that even Norman Rockwell chose to leave his cushy job at the Saturday Evening Post because he wanted to make artwork that was more radical. The Post had rules that wouldnât allow him to do artwork depicting black people as anything other than servants. The job paid really well and that was a huge reason he continued on. But he wanted change that and so he moved to Look magazine.
A lot of people know about the very first piece he did when he left the post which was the The Problem We All Live With which depicts Ruby Bridges walking to school under federal protection.
But I donât think enough people know about Murder in Mississippi which depicts three real civil rights activists who were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan and sherriffs. The magazine ran the sketch instead of the finished piece because they felt it had a more striking statement to accompany the article. Norman Rockwell would finish that version after publication which is here
Rockwellâs legacy is sanitized because he decided to maintain his job at the Post for so long despite his frustrations with not being able to express himself. The civil rights movement was just his final straw to change what he could with the little time he had left. Look magazine received a lot of hate for Rockwell painting these as well.
Another favorite piece of mine is The Right to Know which depicts an integrated populace questioning their government. In 1968, the year of Vietnam and the year the Fair Housing Act only just got signed in months prior:
But I think itâs important to include the caption Rockwell originally wrote for the piece as well. I think it represents how a 74 year old Rockwell felt about the America he believed in and the people in it:
We are the governed, but we govern too. Assume our love of country, for it is only the simplest of self-love. Worry little about our strength, for we have our history to show for it. And because we are strong, there are others who have hope.
But watch us more closely from now on, for those of us who stand here mean to watch those we put in the seats of power. And listen to us, you who lead, for we are listening harder for the truth that you have not always offered us.
Your voice must be ours, and ours speaks of cities that are not safe, and of wars we do not want, of poor in a land of plenty, and of a world that will not take the shape our arms would give it.
We are not fierce, and the truth will not frighten us. Trust us, for we have given you our trust. We are the governed, remember, but we govern too.
Iâd just like to briefly say even Rockwellâs seemingly feel good Americana pieces are often more political than people today realize for example
likely the most famous picture of a Thanksgiving dinner ever painted and you see it all the time.
What you may not know is its actual title
âFreedom From Wantâ itâs a part of a series of 4, including this now famous meme
âFreedom of Speechâ These paintings were illustrations of FDRâs âFour Freedomsâ speech where The President laid out a vision that would become what the Allies were fighting for in WWII universal human rights that became a part of the UN charter.
So this homey American Thanksgiving scene was also a bold statement that no one in the world should go hungry
Rockwellâs work was very political, he used that Americana small town America vibe of his work to make what he was saying feel very close to the viewers he was trying to reach and also his optimism of the human spirt but for sure not blind to the need to build a better world.
I have never heard of Norman Rockwell. I donât understand anything about art. But this picture shook me and caused a storm of emotions. It is called Breaking Home Ties, 1954
The boy is going to a Uni and wearing his best outfit; the Uni sticker is on his luggage, even his tie and his socks are the colours of the sticker. He is excited and impatient. The father - obviously a farmer, is sitting at the worn farm truck with a flag and a storm lamp, because their place is so small the train wonât normally stop there, so the father will need to âcatchâ the train and signal with the light and the flag for it to stop.
His son will never come back to the farm. Â
I think I understand why this picture sold at 15,4 million dollars in 2006.Â
Great paintings by Norman Rockwell of everyday Americana.
Norman Rockwell specialized in exactly this, OP. You can look at almost all of his paintings and find a story in it. Some are sweet, some are poignant, some just show family. They are all stories, and they all have story woven into every single detail.
And because it is my favorite, this is âShinerâ
Rockwellâs mentor was A.C. Leyendecker best known for his illustrations of the Arrow Collar shirt man. The model was Leyendeckerâs lover. Rockwell was a pallbearer at Leyendeckerâs funeral.
Rockwellâs paintings also dealt quite a bit with social issues as he got older and after the Saturday Evening Post made him remove a Black person from an image bc Black people âcould only depicted in service jobsâ.
As a result he left the Post & created (among other works) The Problem We All Live With and Murder in Mississippi.
I gotta correct âAC Leyendeckerâ as JC Leyendecker, famous for his Arrow Collar ads and also Saturday Evening Post covers.
[an Arrow Collar ad by Joseph Christian Leyendecker featuring his famous Arrow Collar Man.]
His brother, FX Leyendecker, was also a skilled artist in his own right.
[1922 Life magazine cover by Frank Xavier Leyendecker]
Norman Rockwell modeled himself after JC, learning from his work and eventually surpassing him in fame as the most well known Saturday Evening Post cover artist. Where JCâs style was known for his striking, attractive depictions of men and women (though thatâd be an oversimplification to say that he couldnât also do excellent more down to earth characters as well), Rockwell has become known for his more realistic, even goofy at times, depictions of American life. Heâs certainly the most well known American illustrator, to the point that some folks consider his classic Americana a little kitschy. Honestly, though, he knew how to tackle serious subject matter right alongside the silly things. He truly understood how to tell an entire story with a single image.
we really devolved as a society when we stopped using fully painted pictures on romance novels and started using cheap photoshop insteadÂ
case in point
this is a Hell of a downgradeÂ
worst crime capitalism ever committed was eliminating Horny Oil Painter as a viable career option.
So great news actually the horny oil painter style is starting to make a comeback with millennials whoâre into adult romance novels, but not in the way you expect!
