BENTONVILLE — Art has the ability to inspire, to enlighten, to bring joy, understanding and to draw a crowd.
The art of Norman Rockwell has accomplished much of this since the March 8 opening of the “American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell” exhibit at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. The traveling exhibition of America’s much beloved illustrator, painter and chronicler of American life has been captivating audiences around the country since the tour began in 2007.
What makes Rockwell’s art so rejuvenating and relevant today is what prevented his illustration from being recognized in the art world in his day. His gift is taking the everyday and mundane and casting an often humorous glow, a touch of magic and a sense of hopefulness to his subjects so that a viewer comes away uplifted and fortified by the visual experience.
Not all art possesses that power.
The art of Norman Rockwell in this day could be said to endow life-affirming qualities, to support traditional family and religious values, and to be Christian in the way that it depicts a sacredness of life.
Kevin Murphy, curator of American art at Crystal Bridges, recognizes this fact.
“[His art] is about coming together at meals, it’s about respecting your elders, it’s about trying to raise children, it’s about hoping for a better society. And those are themes that anyone can relate to, no matter their age, their race, their class, whatever it is,” he said about Rockwell.
Rockwell’s painting, “Saying Grace,” one of the all-time favorites of the American public, illustrates Murphy’s point, as do many of his other works. “The Golden Rule” and the “Four Freedoms” paintings that expressed the freedoms or rights that should be universally protected as delivered in a speech by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1941 also portray those inherent attributes valued by the faithful.
Taking a cursory glimpse at his past gives a point of reference for his perspective. In the book, “Norman Rockwell: A Life,” author Laura Claridge writes that Rockwell as a young man was actively involved in church until he was 19 and then fell away from attending any church services regularly. By all accounts, Rockwell (1894-1978) grew up a devoted churchgoer in the Episcopal Church. At 21, he married Irene O’Connor, a Roman Catholic, but after 15 years of marriage and no children, they divorced. Some said their religious differences were at times a source of contention. He later married Mary Barstow, a schoolteacher, and they had three sons. It was reported that although the couple were not regular churchgoers, they did baptize all three sons in the Episcopal Church. The years with Barstow proved to be his most domestic and gave way to a period when his painting captured the common and ordinary and elevated it to the extraordinary.
In his day, art that was less “realistic” seemed to be more revered by the art critics, a fact that even puzzled the aging Rockwell. In a 2010 article in America, a Jesuit magazine, author Terrence W. Klein argued that Rockwell’s art helps one perceive something of this world’s truth and this world’s beauty. By helping us to see that loveliness, Klein writes, it helps us to see God.
“What is art, especially sacred art, supposed to do?” Klein said. “The answer may be as simple and supple as a Rockwell painting. Good art could be called incarnational because it uses material to nourish the spirit. Art helps us to perceive aspects of reality we could not see otherwise.”
As an artist, Msgr. David LeSieur, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Rogers, agrees. After viewing the exhibit, he said there is an optimism about America in particular and human nature in general in Rockwell’s art.
“His art always tells a story and it often pokes gentle fun at the human condition,” Msgr. LeSieur said. “To me it says, ‘Life is good and so are people, as long as we don’t take ourselves too seriously.’”
Msgr. LeSieur recognized a shift in attitude of Rockwell’s paintings in the 1960s with the racial troubles in the American South, but said Rockwell helped us to see our society, as in a mirror, yet not without hope.
“In the two paintings, ‘Problem We All Live With’ and ‘Murder in Mississippi’ Rockwell is realistic in his treatment of human prejudice,” Msgr. LeSieur said. “The courage Rockwell depicted in the young black girl going to school escorted by U.S. marshals; the fearlessness of the young white man, holding up his wounded black friend, facing an angry mob — these paintings, though lacking the optimistic naivete of his earlier works, remind us of the hope that Rockwell saw in the deeper strength of the human spirit.”
Critics aside, Rockwell has always been well-received and Laurie Moffatt, director and chief executive officer of the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass., said there is a trend of artists today moving back to narrative art.
“Rockwell was a great storyteller,” she said while speaking to an audience in Bentonville March 9. “He was one of the few artists that documented American life in this realistic way.”
The traveling exhibit of 50 original Rockwell oil paintings and 323 Saturday Evening Post magazine covers features materials from the Rockwell museum showing how he worked. The exhibit includes lectures, gallery talks and workshops and will be on display through May 27.
Tickets to the Rockwell exhibit are free for members, $12 for non-members and free for children. Audio tours are available at no charge
