Today I\u2019m serving a slice of Americana. One of America\u2019s most famous artists was Norman Rockwell, a staple of U.S. media, whose published paintings first saw press in 1916 and kept going until, I believe, sometime in the 1960s. Although he passed away in 1978 he\u2019s still a household name.<\/p>\n
Rockwell\u2019s paintings were often featured as cover art on the Saturday Evening Post magazine. He did 322 such paintings, and I think that\u2019s the work he is most widely known for. He did a lot of homey, small-town sort of paintings, capturing the golden glow of American\u2019s hometown life.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not art savvy. But I\u2019ve noticed a couple of things about Rockwell\u2019s works. For one thing, they are very memorable. People who saw a Rockwell painting 30 years ago can often recall it right away if you mention it. <\/p>\n
Which leads me to the other thing: Many of his paintings tell a story. Or, maybe I should say the paintings don\u2019t really tell a story on their own, but the people and the situations they depict trigger our minds to cast a story from what we see. <\/p>\n
After all, the only thing more potent than telling a story is trigging someone to tell it to themselves. The hook runs deepest when it grows from within. <\/p>\n
For example, one of his most famous works is \u201cThe Runaway,\u201d done in 1958. It shows the backs of two customers seated at a diner counter. And it\u2019s quite a contrast: There\u2019s a burly, broad-shouldered state trooper atop one stool, and his bulk dwarfs the diminutive stature of a little kid sitting on the stool next to him. <\/p>\n
But these two opposites have common ground, since their heads are turned towards each other. If a conversation hasn\u2019t started, it\u2019s just about to.<\/p>\n
Underneath the kid\u2019s stool, haphazardly placed, is a hobo-style travel kit consisting of a few small belongings tied inside a bandana which is lashed to the end of a stick. <\/p>\n
Our minds spin a narrative at this point: The kid has run away from home. The trooper will offer sympathetic counsel which will inspire the kid to return to his family. <\/p>\n
Many Americans can immediately recall that painting from memory if you describe it. And they\u2019re getting their memories refreshed since the painting was in the news this week.<\/p>\n
As it turns out, the scene for \u201cThe Runaway\u201d was first carefully staged, posed, and photographed. Rockwell then based his painting on the photograph. It became a topic for newspapers because Richard Clemens Jr., the Massachusetts state trooper who posed in the photo, passed away on May 6 at the age of 83. <\/p>\n
Until that story caught my eye I had just assumed that artists did their illustrations straight from the mind\u2019s eye. But I know better now. Not that it really matters. Still, it\u2019s interesting to get a glimpse behind the veil to see how things really get done. <\/p>\n
Modern times have further blurred the difference between photos and paintings. My photo editing software has a feature that converts photos into images that look like they were painted. I knew a guy who had a business at a small airport doing just that. His customers were pilots who would bring in photos of their flying adventures, and the guy would push a few keys on the computer, convert the photo into what looked like a painting, then print it on canvas, and then frame it. So it wasn\u2019t really a photo. And it wasn\u2019t really a painting. But it was really $60, and the customers I talked to were happy with the results.<\/p>\n
Even photos themselves can be a bit murky. Several famous WWII photographs are said to have been posed. So, do they depict truth, or fiction? I don\u2019t have an opinion, but I suspect that people sympathetic to photo\u2019s concept would say the pose was legitimate and necessary journalistic license, while those in the unsympathetic camp might offer a different take. <\/p>\n
Anyway, however we get there, the power of suggestive narrative is very strong. In fact, I think it\u2019s even stronger today that it used to be, since modern media can propagate stuff globally for nearly zero cost. <\/p>\n
Speaking of propagating stuff, I\u2019ll post a link to \u201cThe Runaway\u201d on my website.<\/p>\n
I have a couple of Norman Rockwell books stashed away. Whenever I re-encounter them it\u2019s a good excuse to brew a pot of coffee and thumb through the pictures. There are probably millions of other people in the same camp. So whether you fancy yourself a runaway or not, I guess in some ways you really can go back home, at least for a visit.<\/p>\n
[I]Visit Ed Stephens Jr. at [URL=”http:\/\/edstephensjr.com”]EdStephensJr.com[\/URL]. His column runs every Friday.[\/I]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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