I like Norman Rockwell’s art.
Sure, some critics dismiss it as pedestrian. If the fact I like it makes me pedestrian, so be it. I think it is genuine, a reflection of American life. I dismiss the theory Rockwell was “only” an illustrator.
Which is why, a couple of Saturday’s ago, you would have found me standing in line at Crystal Bridges with my friend awaiting entry into the gallery containing his work.
I remember Rockwell’s Saturday Evening Post covers from when I was a kid. As best I recall, my grandpa got the Post and I read it. It was probably the start of a magazine addiction I still have today.
It was interesting to see Rockwell’s approach to his art — and the variety. It wasn’t all Santa Claus for the Christmas cover.
As usual when I attend an exhibit like this, I came out gobsmacked. Even as I write this I couldn’t tell you what I saw, at least not all of it. There are all of those Post covers, which is kind of a history lesson in a picture frame.
There are also oils of what became Post covers and pencil drawings and an interesting audio tour that goes with the exhibit.
“Uneasy Christmas in the Birthplace of Christ,” which appeared in Look magazine in 1970, jumped out at me. Why? The intensity of color — the deep blue of the night sky filled with twinkling starts. If there is color, I will find it, my friends will tell you. I guess that why I was drawn to this painting.
It was interesting to hear the story behind the painting, which shows the march to Christmas Eve services in Bethlehem. Most prominent, however, is the scene on a rooftop. There is a family dressed as if they might be Americans, a couple of armed soldiers, and to the side, a partially seen man in Arab robes. A political statement? Certainly it was in 1970, and could be today.
Another striking piece of work is “Murder in Mississippi,” which was published in Look. The scene depicts the deaths of two civil rights workers who were murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan.
The painting reflects a sad period of our country’s history, but observers of this exhibit are lucky to get to see the process Rockwell went through before he settled on how to depict the scene. It is also interesting to note that the Look art director chose to use a preliminary sketch rather than Rockwell’s painting.
I like to pretend I have artistic skills — believe me it is a pretense. When I was in elementary school I decided I could draw a pretty good sailboat on the lake with a little bit of shoreline and a sun. I remember drawing it repeatedly. I think to qualify as “artistic” you should probably draw more than a sailboat.
Anyway, I think that is why quilting appeals to me. There are patterns — so I am not required to draw — and I get to play with colors, even if it is colored fabric instead of my box of 96 Crayola crayons. Yes, I do have one, and am darned proud of it.
Quilters United In Learning Together, the local quilt guild to which I belong, just wrapped up its biennial quilt show. How does that relate to Rockwell? Whether oil or pencil or fabric, an object can be art, and a lot of the work that hung at our show was art.
Take for instance the “slice” quilt that won best of show. The Van Go Go Girls took a picture postcard, blew the image up, then cut it into 10 pieces. Each “girl” had a section they were to recreate faithfully. They were to work independently, no calling up the artist with the adjacent section. The result was truly amazing. It was a painting, but the medium was fabric. There were a lot of people standing in front of it with gobsmacked looks on their faces.
Then there was a soft, old-fashioned quilt hanging several aisles away. On it was a third place ribbon for hand-quilting. It looked like something you wrap up in and feel loved.
My mom won that ribbon. She doesn’t think of herself as an artist, but she is, as are all the women and men who exhibited at the show.
Embrace art, no matter whether it is a Rockwell — or the quilt your grandma made.
LEEANNA WALKER IS LOCAL EDITOR OF THE ROGERS MORNING NEWS AND THE SPRINGDALE MORNING NEWS. FOLLOW HER ON TWITTER AT WWW.TWITTER.COM/NWALEEANNA