PoppyRow

It’s all over the news! A Normal Rockwell painting, “The Russian Classroom”, owned by mega-film director Steven Spielberg, turns out to be a stolen piece of property. Apparently, Spielberg purchased the painting from a legitimate dealer in 1989 and didn’t know it was stolen until his staff spotted its image last week on an FBI website, listing stolen works of art, according to the bureau. It had been initially stolen from the now-closed Clayton Art Gallery. Only a few days after first exhibiting the work, the front glass windows were smashed. “Russian Classroom” was the only artwork stolen from the gallery.

I grew up as a fan of Norman Rockwell. I became incredibly disappointed as I went through art school to realize that most of my professors turned their noses up at his work. Of course, most of what we were to create was to be contemporary and/or controversial, and upon first glance, you might not think this American icon fits the bill. But I beg to differ. Here is a man with a message, and a voice to proclaim it in.

He is well known for capturing the essence of humanity during an era in our history filled with idealism, hope, and dreams for a better future. Even within all of this optimism, Rockwell often portrays subjects that express disappointment, sadness and poverty. He seemed to want to show that despite hardships, we are all humans, experiencing much the same circumstances and resulting emotions. Whether a lazy day, a grandpa, a holiday, we all have certain emotional memories associated to life events that cause us all to be relatable to each other.

Norman Rockwell has wonderful quotes that are priceless examples of his philosophy on his art, himself, and life. They can tell you so much more about this incredible person than I ever could.

“Without thinking too much about it in specific terms, I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed. My fundamental purpose is to interpret the typical American. I am a story teller.”
“Commonplaces never become tiresome. It is we who become tired when we cease to be curious and appreciative.”
“The commonplaces of America are to me the richest subjects in art. Boys battling flies on vacant lots; little girls playing jacks on the front steps; old men plodding home at twilight-all these things arouse feeling in me.”

This tells me that he strived to bring to light things that may have seemed insignificant into a monumental light, making the mundane noteworthy.

“I unconsciously decided that, even if it wasn’t an ideal world, it should be and so painted only the ideal aspects of it—pictures in which there are no drunken slatterns or self-centered mothers … only foxy grandpas who played baseball with the kids and boys who fished from logs and got up circuses in the backyard.”
“The ’20s ended in an era of extravagance, sort of like the one we’re in now. There was a big crash, but then the country picked itself up again, and we had some great years. Those were the days when American believed in itself. I was happy and proud to be painting it.”

In this, I realize that he was in no way ignoring or dismissing suffering, but rather wanted to manifest a hope and a sense of humor despite life’s circumstances. He knows the world is not ideal, but believed it should be. That’s not his sole responsibility, but that of everyone working together.