Norman Rockwell
The Dugout, Post Cover
1948

About the Item

Signed by Artist Lower Left The present work was published on the cover of the September 4th, 1948 edition of The Saturday Evening Post. An accompanying “Keeping Posted” article about Norman Rockwell’s process behind the painting was printed on page 10 inside the issue. (Image above) The Post described, “Boston baseball fans saw a strange spectacle at Braves’ Field early this summer. As the stands filled, two respectable-looking men stood on the field staring at the spectators. Every now and then they would point to someone, run up into the stands and invite the man or woman to sit in a box above the dugout. Then the thinner of the two would contort his face into an expression of wild delight or disgust and invite the spectator to do the same, while a photographer made pictures. The explanation is on our cover. The two suspicious characters were Kenneth Stuart, the Post’s art editor and the artist, Normal Rockwell. For a detailed description of how Boston fans acted out a baseball game long before the warm-up, see Keeping Posted.” (The Saturday Evening Post, September 4th, 1948, p. 3) EXHIBITED Brooklyn, New York, The Brooklyn Museum, Norman Rockwell and a Century of American Illustration, March 22-May 14, 1972. Naples, Florida, Naples Museum of Art, The Great American Game: Baseball, February 1-May 13, 2007. LITERATURE The Saturday Evening Post, September 4, 1948, pp. 3, 10, cover illustration. C. Finch, Norman Rockwell’s America, New York, 1975, p. 289, illustrated. T. Buechner, Norman Rockwell: Artist & Illustrator, New York, 1970, p. 435, illustrated. T. Buechner, Norman Rockwell: A Sixty Year Retrospective, New York, 1972, p. 95. L.N. Moffatt, Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, vol. I, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1986, p. 179, no. C444, illustrated. A. Nemerov, Silent Dialogues: Diane Arbus & Howard Nemerov, San Francisco, California, 2015, p. 50.

Creator:
Norman Rockwell (1894 - 1978, American)
Creation Year:
1948
Dimensions:
Height: 17.25 in (43.82 cm)Width: 16 in (40.64 cm)
Medium:
Gouache,Oil
Period:
1940-1949
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Fort Washington, PA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU384312317992
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Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell is among the most revered painters of the 20th century. His figurative and portrait paintings reflect an innocent and idyllic America described by the artist as "life as I would like it to be." For nearly 50 years, he illustrated the covers of The Saturday Evening Post in a rich and emotive style that gave distinctive personalities to his imagined characters. In total, Norman Rockwell created more than 4,000 works of art over the course of his life.

Rockwell was born in 1894 in New York City. His artistic aspirations took shape early on, and when he was 14 years old, he took classes at the New York School of the Art, which is now the Parsons School of Design. Later, he attended the Art Students League of New York, where he studied under influential painters Thomas Fogarty and George Bridgman. While still a teen, Rockwell became art director of the Boy Scouts of America publication Boys' Life.

At 21, Rockwell moved to New Rochelle, New York, and opened a studio with fellow illustrator Victor Clyde Forsythe. He created illustrations for magazines like Literary Digest and Life before his first cover for The Saturday Evening Post was published when he was 22. In 1939, after moving to Arlington, Vermont, Rockwell pivoted to making the nostalgic paintings of small-town and iconic America for which he is best known — scenes of Christmas dinner, children playing in the street and national treasures like Ruby Bridges and Rosie the Riveter.

In 1943, a speech previously given by President Franklin Roosevelt inspired Rockwell to create his most famous series, “The Four Freedoms,” which was exhibited all over the United States. The series included four pieces entitled Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Worship, Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear.

Rockwell moved with his family to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1953, where he spent the rest of his life. My Adventures as an Illustrator — the autobiography Rockwell wrote with the help of his son, Thomas — was published in 1960. In 1963, Rockwell ceased working with The Saturday Evening Post and started drawing illustrations for Look magazine.

The world’s largest collection of original Rockwell art can be found at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge. The artist was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977, and he passed away peacefully in his home the following year.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of original Norman Rockwell paintings, prints, drawings and other works.