A crucial aspect of "Freedom of Speech" is that the man speaking is wearing a blue-collar worker's uniform, while some of the people listening to him are wearing suits. I.e., anyone can voice their opinions, no matter their class.
Thank you for pointing this out! It's absolutely vital to understanding the piece. A viewer at the time would immediately notice the class difference. It's even a tad subversive.
As someone who owns Rockwell's coursebooks inherited from my grandmother, calling him boring or prudish is laughable. Politics aside, he was extremely knowledgeable of human anatomy and his subjects are distinctly energetic and expressive. I blame the Post for his "bland and inoffensive" reputation.
I don’t think a post is responsible for this, many people haven’t even seen it and think the same but the real reason they think that is they don’t know anything about the art itself
@@invaderzim6904 The "Post" is the Saturday Evening Post, a now-defunct print magazine. Norman Rockwell worked for them as an illustrator and did their cover art. They wanted well done but innocuous art that would appeal to their white, middle-class customers.
One of the things that drove me nuts in my art studies was the snobbish hatred of commercial illustrators particularly American ones. I wasn’t allowed to study or do reports on people like Rockwell or Gibson because they were seem as lesser artists. Which is crazy. It made me resent the people I was forced to study instead like Andy Warhol.
How can someone force you to like a particular kind of art or artist? Art is so subjective. I think one of the reasons Rockwell's art is seen as 'prudish and boring' is that it can be a little uncomfortable to see overdressed people in illustrations all the time, just as it can be equally unsettling to see badly drawn nudes. Maybe this is why Rockwell's art incites so much criticism, for being so 'clothed' as to appeal to only kids. I have the same feeling about hyperrealism; it is so boring that I fail to appreciate the hours of effort and skill behind making that sort of art. But I find Rockwell's skill beyond compare with anyone else's. I read a bit about his painting process and it's amazing how he created those exaggerated expressions and always included humour in his art.
@@sunayana4479 I compare hyper realistic paintings, drawings, etc. to the 2019 remake of Lion King. While it’s true it may have taken a lot of technical skill to create it, it’s just a copy of something else with no heart and soul. Maybe there is hyper realistic work that this comparison does not apply to, but to many, it does. I’ve seen enough hyper realistic portraits of Morgan Freeman, lol.
Me whenever someone says Rockwell was not that skilled: have you seen the skin he painted? The wrinkles and colors and blending? He didn't always just paint "pretty" people either. I think he'd have a better rep if his art hadn't been in magazines and advertisements. If they hung in galleries only, snobby people would like them better imo.
I think Amos Sewell is underrated. He was way ahead of his time in that he sort of understood how absurd this 50s imagery of happy perfect families was. He's not technically ourstanding but he makes me laugh and illustration should do that. As in, illustration should be clear and make you think, feel etc. before you start picking on the technique.
Ruby being dressed in white is clearly trying to show how pure and in the right she is. It also contrasts her dark skin, making it obvious what this painting is about. I like that he did that. He could've decided to forego this extra layer by painting her in the clothes she wore but he didn't because he wanted to say something more. If you wanna know what she wore, go find a photograph; he's painting, hightening, stylizing reality. Thats what art is.
Isn’t it problematic to associate white with purity and goodness and black with the opposite. I think he made the outfit white to contrast with her skin and simplify it, nothing more
@@Koki-hc3mw lots of angels and biblical figures were painted in white because the color white is symbolic. It’s been used for probably more than a thousand years. So he definitely used white to show her pureness, because almost everyone can understand his point just by looking at it.
I think Norman Rockwell is the only true “expression”ist. The faces of his characters are full of so much life. The art community has such a bad reputation because of people like whoever posted that Facebook comment. So snotty. Norman Rockwell will always be one of the greats. Also, when it comes to “The problem we live with” not only is it from the point of view of a protester, but maybe even a child. It’s a child’s perspective. They are of Ruby’s height.
Was the problem the girl? Rockwell was one of my heroes, as a young aspiring artist, but this was only because I regarded him as a great draughtsman and story-teller. However, I grew up and, over time, it became clearer to me that the primary weakness in all of Rockwell’s 'political' work is that it looks at America through rose-colored glasses. The Four Freedoms represents America’s much touted ideals not America’s reality. Not even today. Not even close. 'The Problem We All Live With' presents only idealized Whites protecting a Black child. Her attackers, who we know far outnumber them by millions, aren’t visible! One partially obscured epithet and single piece of smashed fruit barely represent the very real threat that girl lives with - Irrationally MURDEROUS White racists. Not a single rage-distorted face or fist balled in anger is shown. Only White heroes. Only protectors. Though unacceptable for the cover of The Saturday Evening Post, it’s feel-good, idealized America imagery at it’s Rockwellian finest. I believe Rockwell a good man but this work remained in the thrall of the same White racism that, still today, has too great an influence on the 'American DREAM' for us to be able to regard the work as genuinely political. It hides the truth of America as effectively as sheets hid(e) the faces of Klansmen and sensibilities of thousands of Whites so deeply enured to racism that they’re in deep denial regarding their own role in maintaining it as a means to evade being ostracized by the racists that exists among their own families and friends if not their own hearts.
@@idcook - you've completely misinterpreted "The Problem We All Live With." The focus is not on the girl's protectors at all...they're anonymous, headless figures, almost part of the background. The focus is on Ruby herself, especially the contrast between her (small, innocent, and eager to learn) and the adult-world violence that surrounds her. The painting's message is clearly something like "Seriously, people? A little girl going to school is such a huge 'threat' that she needs bodyguards to protect her from you? Isn't this ridiculous? How are you not ashamed of yourselves?" Norman Rockwell was a brilliant visual storyteller, and he knew how to reach an audience. Showing the rage-distorted faces of the protesters would allow a white audience to look on the protestors as "others," as people dumber or more violent than them. It lets suburban white folk say "Well, at least I'm not like those dumb Southern rednecks. The problem is them, not me." Rockwell instead put the viewer smack dab in the place of the protesters, seeing what they see...but in a way that makes them see exactly what it is they're afraid of: an innocent little girl, no different from any child going to school. It makes a viewer ask, "If I were there, would I have felt like them?" Norman Rockwell did see things through rose-colored glasses...but that's because he saw human beings as basically decent. He saw the similarities between all of us, and usually aimed to show that in his pictures. The stories he told through his art were small, personal stories. "The Problem We All Live With" is not about racism...it is about Ruby Bridges on her first day of school. It's about an innocent child and the irrational, inexplicable hatred that surrounded her. It says to the viewer, "There is nothing about this girl to be afraid of. She's not the problem...WE are."
@@idcook No, the problem Rockwell is alluding to is the adversity that this little girl has to face just to get an education. What kind of question is that? Which he absolutely is. There are honestly only a few artists out there that can really capture a scene like Rockwell. Everything he ever did oozes personality. You have to understand that Rockwell lived in a time where the collective sharing of miseries in America had united most people living there, and the culture was one of optimism, American exceptionalism, and opposition to fascism. The Four Freedoms is propaganda, sure. But it’s the good kind. It got us fighting the Nazis. Of course, I don’t believe America has EVER kept the promises of her constitution, especially for us non-whites, but that “Exceptionalism” was the culture that Rockwell came up in. He couldn’t help being born white, and he couldn’t help not knowing the full score. Ignorance is not a sin, stupidity is, and Rockwell wasn’t a stupid man by any means. I don’t believe you can judge the past with modern sensibilities. It isn’t fair. My reading of “The Problem” was that little Ruby, surrounded on both sides by towering, faceless men, and presumably screaming whites on one side, was in danger, and the artist wants you to feel protective, like how the photo of the earth from the moon makes it look small and fragile. We don’t need to see twisted white faces, all of that is heavily implied. At least to me, Ruby looks scared. We’re supposed to understand that this crowd of whites, is so threatened by a tiny child learning, that they threw shit at the wall, and then to finish the indignation, scrawled one of the ugliest words in the English language on it. All for this small, innocent, child. I believe Rockwell knew exactly what he was doing here. He didn’t need to show any of what you were talking about, a 1960’s audience would have gotten the message. And I believe it’s definitely made to make the viewer feel shame. It’s why the title is such an apropo name for it all. We, as Americans, must all live with the indignation of racism, because it affects us all, one way or another. No, I simply disagree. There’s nothing “feel good” about The Problem We All Live with. It’s a frightening painting, because it beautifully renders a national shame in oil paints. I don’t disagree that many stupid people today have adopted his art as a symbol of white capitalism or something like that, but they obviously misconstrue it. Rockwell painted mostly banal consumerist art, yes, but it was GOOD. And the minute he was cut loose from his job, he started painting more provocative pieces from a white-guy perspective that he couldn’t help having. I guess what I’m saying is, he was one of the greatest draftsmen of all time, and his heart was in the right place. A world without his legacy is a lesser one.
New Kids In The Neighborhood is probably one of my favorite pantings just because of the detail put into the scene. Even the pets are curious of each other and the kids look almost hesitant, like as if they were told that they can't play with them but they are going to anyways. I'm not really an artist or anything like that, but I always loved it
Yeah, it portrays an innocence and hope for the next generation. They are “different” but it's superficial. They are still all kids and can still be friends, despite what they may have been told.
I also think the fact that one pet is a cat and one is a dog is significant. Because cats and dogs stereotypically “hate” each other, showing them curious about each other may be symbolic of how black and white people are “supposed” to hate each other, but these children don’t care.
Funny enough, paying attention to their poses really amuse me. The black children look rather stiff, as if they're trying to keep themselves proper in a way in front of the white Children. And the white children look jittery and curious, as if they dont, (or at least aren't "supposed ") to care about how they behave in front of the black children. Maybe I'm looking too deeply into it, but then again there's no such thing in art.
Yelling slurs at a 6 year old girl! And people love to talk about the good old days. She was very strong, stronger than she should have ever had to have been. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
@@let_uslunch8884 It was all Democrats. It took Republican POTUS to use army2 force Democrat Arkansas to integrate Blacks. Arkansas kept on being Democrat and denying Civil Rights Act for 30 years. Bill Clinton with his KKK friend Senator Byrd. Of course it's important. Democrats are still cracking the whip.
I ever wonder if the other people yelling and heckling Ruby would feel if their children ever got deaths threats and verbal abuse aimed at them or how much of the kids that grew up realized how shit their parents actually were.
I believe it’s due to the problem of people thinking cynicism = smart, which leads to a surplus of idiots up there own asses thinking anything is happy/hopeful is stupid and anything saying “humanity sucks, everything is awful” is automatically brilliant
@@christopherauzenne5023 "I believe it’s due to the problem of people thinking cynicism = smart" well, to be fair, there are a lot more happy, dumb people. it is a blessing.
critics like to value sorrow more than joy most of the time. In reality, genuine joy can be harder to capture and also more powerful than sorrow. It takes a great artist to portray it without becoming goofy
He did paint very mundane things though. I don't agree with calling him bland at all, but it's understandable how people could see a few of his works and conclude that so quickly and dismissively.
His art for the post was definitely inoffensive (mostly because they gave him rules for what he could and couldnt paint and had the final say in what would be used as the cover). but bland? hell no. His style is extremely recognizable to this day.
Only if 'bland' is insulting. Plain rice well cooked is bland compared to most food, but can be delicious. One only needs a palate for subtleness. Cheers! :)
My grandfather James “Jim” Martin is in all four of the Four Freedom paintings. He lived a few houses down from Norman Rockwell in Arlington, Vermont . We are also cousins with Norman Rockwell’s model for Rosie the Riveter, Mary Doyle.
Thank you for sharing your Grandfather's (and YOURS!) history with us here... I love these little factoids you can only get from others. That's the best part of social media!
not to mention that conservatism didn't always mean daydreaming fascist. Conservatism used to only be an economic belief rather than the shitstorm of conspiracy and idiocy it is today.
@@stanisawzokiewski3308 It definitely gets a new meaning today in a quickly dissolving society, that can't keep the promises of freedom, that progressives started with some 60 years ago. That glue of trust that had kept society together, which is the basis of freedom and what Rockwell mainly emphasized in his art, hasn't been replaced with a new working cultural system.
i never knew this, norman rockwell is one of my favorite artists ever BECAUSE his paintings were based on iconic moments that seemed so boring, but were and are the bones that make american culture, makes me incredibly happy and heart warmed. even his political paintings are part of this holy grail that makes american culture, rebellion. rebellion is and has been such an important part of american culture since our conception.
Thank you for showing Rockwell for the progressive that he was. The people who believe he wasn't, are the same people who think Born in the USA and This Land is Your Land are patriotic nationalist songs when in the contrary, they're protest songs. This Land is Your Land is a song against private property, the point being that the country belongs to everyone and not a certain group of rich people. Woody got rid of the private property verse so he wouldn't get caught by McCarthy. Is it still patriotic to do a protest song to show you care about the country? Of course, but the meaning of the songs diminishes when people misinterpret it for what they're actually about. And his art shouldn't be political, they're human rights. It shouldn't be a political issue to give everyone equal treatment.
Great video! I remember seeing the Four Freedoms on posters all throughout my elementary school and middle school. Norman Rockwell is one of my favorite artists.
Rockwell’s “The Problem We All Live With” is one of the great American paintings of the 20th century! Seeing the actual work is a profoundly moving experience.
"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." - Aristotle Art is unquestionably one of the purest and highest elements. It trains the mind through the eye, and the eye through the mind. As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life. The good and the bad.
I feel that what you don’t realize is that while Rockwells earlier work is seen as marketable & bland, it also invokes strong ties to Americana & nostalgia. These are both two things that are missing in modern day art. Didn’t know about Rockwells later paintings though, very interesting
I think most people realize that actually, it's just that they disagree that "Americana and nostalgia" is inherently valuable in the way you imply when you say they're "missing" from modern art. It's called bland because it looks like every other product churned out to appeal to one demographic that's had a monopoly on American visual art for centuries. That kind of monopoly has essentially reiterated these same ideas and visual tropes again and again, outside of Rockwell, with an insistence that these ideas do in fact reflect "the past", "real Americans" and "ordinary life". In effect painting rosy-cheeked white kids and friendly cops at the soda fountain is no less political (and no more objective) than Socialist Realism.
It's kinda interesting cause his later works should invoke enough of a reaction of it being "unamerican," which is sorta unique how he evolves from the epitome of American nostalgia to a social realist taken to the next level.
I had the privilege of seeing many of Norman Rockwell's pieces in person at his museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and I highly recommend that anyone who finds themselves in western MA pay them a visit. His work is impactful and stunning in a way that digital images don't do it justice. Freedom of Speech nearly brought me to tears. The museum has a great balance of his fun and quirky pieces to his social and political works and all of it is well thought out and skillfully created. It's been years since I've visited, but I think about it often.
I used to take frequent vacations there due to Tanglewood (a famous park for concerts) one of my favorite passtimes was to hang around the Red Lion Inn, which is featured in one of his populare paintings. ( Try the soup) He was like "local celebrity" and everyone I knew there seemed to all have a least one print of his, somewhere in their homes.
I think it's interesting that 'Freedom from Want' is more accurately depicting a 'Freedom from need'. Grandma and Grandpa are looking over a long dinner table of family and friends, in a solid house, and sharing food. Their guests are looking at each other more than they are looking at the food, demonstrating the deep sense of love the family has for each other. For the material aspects, the room itself seems only big enough to hold the family, and they are a bit cramped. The clothing they wear is modest and unassuming, and the dishes are mostly simple and functional. We don't see any of the clothing of the guests, just their faces. The message is if you have enough to bring your closest together and provide for them, you won't want much else. Except for a glass of white wine to go with the turkey, eh? I know it would mess with the composition but . . . . . .
That's often the problem with the drift of language. When the meaning of words changes over time the intent of statements using them gets lost or distorted.
I never noticed this until today: On "The Problem We All Live With", his name is center bottom in the painting. As intentional as he was with the rest of it, I can't help but think that was also a statement. Back in those days (according to my grandparents, who were both 1930s babies), what you 'put your name to' said a lot about who you were. Your signature on the ballot, your statements in town meetings or in your friends' gatherings, all the things you said or refrained from saying were telling of your character. So, seeing that he put his name to these works is eye-opening. Thank you for this video!
Norman Rockwells work moves me, brings me such joy, As an Australian I only discovered his work a few years ago and have loved it since. I can’t wait to get one of his books. His way to capture life is amazing.
Back in college when I was getting my degree in Fine arts with a minor in art history, I worked in the Norman Rockwell museum of illustration in Lenox Massachusetts as an intern. I highly recommend anyone in the area to check the museum out. 'The four freedoms' hang there as well as 'The problem we all live with' and many of his other works. the museum often showcases the works of other famous illustrators and even animators. Norman Rockwell's work really inspired me. I will always love how much personality exists in all of of his depictions.
I loved this video!!! but man that facebook comment shows how ready someone is to defend a drawing of a naked woman especially when it conforms to how society imposes how women should look, while still misrepresenting a great artist with a very easy to understand art style but one that still carries strong political statements.
Unironically the facebook comment was defending "pretty art" that wasn't saying anything compared to art that was communicating something. Anytime someone says prude its because their sexual gratification is threatened or criticized
I’m an avid fan artists using oil paints to make realism art. Rockwell art is absolutely stunning in its own right, and even though his past paintings were quiet blanked and held the old American “dream” it also shows a look how America viewed the American dream in the past. Though now we are diverse as ever and it’s normal to have your own version of your American dream, but back then standing out and being different wasn’t okay. His paintings are both stunning and heart wrenching. It shows us the double lives of old Americans, one that is fabricated and one that makes you look to fully understand.
I've loved Norman Rockwell since I was a kid, back then not for any particular reason other than I liked how it looked, but now it's mostly because of what he wanted to say. I was fortunate to get to see the Lucas/Spielberg Normal Rockwell collection at the Smithsonian years ago, and that was one of my favorite exhibitions.
I'm respecting the analysis. But the young Ruby Bridges was somewhat more in fear than being eager to go to school and not fully aware of what was going on around her. Children don't know anything about politics. Rockwell placed her off center for two main reasons: 1) to expose the graffiti message and tomato splatter 2) the painting was meant to be the "centerfold" for Look magazine
Ruby was pretty aware actually. She's talked about before, she's still alive on fact and so are most the women who terrorized her, that she knew they didn't want her at the school and that's why she was the only student in the class. I can't remember if either she or the one teacher willing to teach said it, but she was descrubed as an eager student. I'm sure she didn't know the act that changed the law for her to go there, but Black children know racism from experience and the precautionary lessons parents have to give. Even more so back then.
I see Norman Rockwell less of an artist and more of a storyteller in pictures. Of almost everyone of his paintings you can see the story of what has happened, and/or what will happen. In this he really is a master.
My grandfather was the model for the guy in the moving van, he was actually working as a mover at the time and had his picture taken at work. He got a few dollars and a copy for it, which hung over the kitchen table until he died. Now, I have it.
An article about Rockwell in Smithsonian magazine a few years ago described a major exhibit of his work in New York City shortly after his death. It quoted leading avant-garde artists of the time commenting on what they saw. Willem de Kooning said "he was a Hyper-Realist before his time." Andy Warhol said of Rockwell's "The Connoisseur," in which a man visiting a museum is viewing a painting in Jackson Pollock's style: "square inch for square inch, that's better than Jackson."
I don’t know why people don’t like Norman Rockwell. I always found his art interesting. His art always conveyed this level of surrealism that felt like you were looking at a photo rather than paint. So much detail goes into his work and it’s beautiful.
In "Freedom From Want" the side dishes are simple, healthful, probably home-grown vegetables. The drinks are simply water. Abundance is not about excess or about satisfying rich desires. Freedom from want means having enough and being grateful for what we have. Definitely a pointedly political, critical piece of art. This Thanksgiving dinner could be a warm invitation, or a moral warning, depending on the viewer's deeper value system. Would the viewer be *truly* grateful for celery and water among loving friends? One of my favorites.
Difficult to be free from want when the entire agricultural-industrial complex demands you buy more to furnish them with persistent annual profit growth.
Great video, thank you. I have always appreciated the expression of love for people in Rockwell's paintings, but had assumed him to be very White Establishment in his outlook and was uncomfortable with it. I had no idea about the extent of his humane politics. Wonderful! As a side issue, I do think the nude sketch at the beginning shows a level of prurience, and the jibe at 'wholesome' illustration is uncalled for.
I developed a deep appreciation of Norman Rockwell paintings because of Hometown Buffet actually, I would stare at them while waiting in line as a kid, and they always just had a sense of warmth to them.
I've always been fascinated by Norman Rockwell's artwork. I admit when I was younger I particularly enjoyed going to Hometown Buffet as I got to look at all the artwork they had of him. Curiously I never did one of my usual deep dive binges into a subject I'm interested with him. Granted I suppose I was reluctant to as I didn't want to reduce him to a human being rather this mysterious figure that painted pictures in a way that just really wormed into me. The fact that he did pictures he quit his job and did paintings of a strong political stance on the right side of history moves me even more. I've been let down by a lot of people that I looked up to as a kid especially in these last two years as so many folks seem to have lost their minds during and after the pandemic. Its nice to have one of them actually be a better man than I thought he was. PS: It kind of gives new meaning to the use of "Freedom from Want" style painting in the end credits of the original Lilo & Stitch considering the scenario surrounding the both of them. Don't know if it was done on purpose, but good on them either way.
I feel like in the art world, happy and carefree depictions of humanity are seen as below, compared to angsty and horror. I love paintings that can be both
Happy and carefree depictions of humanity are seen as being easy to use as propaganda, and it is. It's the art equivalent of the phrase 'journalism is whatever someone doesn't want published, all else is public relations'. Very few things worth depicting in art are positive. That said, if you think that the art world is ONLY obsessed with angst or horror, you haven't read much art criticism lately. Some of the classic art critic buzzwords are things like 'playful' or 'humorous' or 'ironic'. Parodying existing artworks alone is a really widespread trend on its own.
All expressions are represented of life. If we only had one genre of film then it would not reach many, same goes for art. We need a variety of it made from all walks of life to truly communicate with others.
@@olivercuenca4109 I am an art major, people often create sorrowful scenes as way of coping and others usually resonate with it as their own way of coping. Most scenes I have learned about in my art history classes have had darker routes because art at the end of the day is one person trying to communicate. And sometimes the message they are sending is a plea to be understood or a certain plea for help. It why even with religious art we get scenes of the saddest moments of the figure’s story. It’s true that happiness can be used for propaganda but I see just as but grief and anger sketches for the same ads.
Fantastic video. I never knew that Rockwell was so committed to his political beliefs. I guess it goes to show that you don't always need to be angry and hostile to fight for what's right.
My Dad hated Norman Rockwell. Dad was painting modern expressionism in the late 1950s and 60s. He felt plainly that Rockwell's saccharin taste of his subjects and that Rockwell pounded his messages home with a sledge hammer. Dad also thought his painting technique was mediocre. I wasn't quick enough then to ask if Dad also had issues with Norman Rockwell's underwear? I have spied at most of the videos presented of Rockwell, secretly wandering, trying to find out why Dad thought he was a bum. Over the years I have grown to appreciate the subtleties of his work, yet you have presented things to me that I didn't know or the stories that flesh out the artist I wasn't aware of. I thank you for all of this! I have to add, I've been staring at blank walls in the dinet in my house. I can't imagine a better place to hang a reproduction of "The Runaway."
I loved Norman Rockwell's work before I even knew who he was (I'm in the UK, btw). Thank you for making this video. It's such a shame that the four freedoms, something we all should be striving for, are the things that get thrown to the wayside. And thank you for giving me an awareness that I didn't have before of NR's political works, so beautifully created and as resonant now as they were when he created them - and that also encapsulate the four Freedoms too.
I don't know why, and it's not that much of a big deal, but i have to tell you, the words you said at the end of the video whilst the soft but warming music played , made me smile. I think it was the words - "through his typical and sensitive description of child innocence". It's really simple, but i felt a sense of fondness when you said and couldn't help but smile. So thank you, you gave forth knowledge and a smile to me this evening.
Thank you for making this video - I actually love how subversive Rockwell is and this is an important part of his work that often gets overlooked. My favorite thing at a job I hated (serving an affluent neighborhood) was seeing one of Norman's large posters displayed prominently in the restroom. The piece was political commentary on classism and it tickled me every time I saw it because these people didn't know what they were displaying 🤣 Oh, Norman 🤘 bless.
I know this video is old but I’m new to your channel. I’ve watched quite a few of your videos over the last couple days. I don’t know if you will see this but when I saw the real picture of Ruby Bridges smiling to contextualize the painting I absolutely lost it. I have a 7 year old daughter and thinking about the aggression this little girl faced just for being allowed to go to school, and how excited and scared she must have been had me choking in tears tbh. My daughter and her friends are truly innocent and to this day there are still people who hate and are aggressive toward minority children. I am so glad for this video and I am going to be staring at this painting for a while. Thank you
Fue un artista extremadamente talentoso, sus bellas imágenes captan importantes valores en la vida cotidiana del pueblo norteamericano con gente ordinaria, pero más que reflejar la “realidad” yo creo que la mayoría de su obra refleja la sociedad idealizada. Podemos estar de acuerdo o no con los temas pero eso no le resta calidad y belleza a su obra.
Artists can make statements in their own interesting, different and maybe even groundbreaking ways. Rockwell didn’t have to break boundaries in the making of the art, but at the end of the day, art is an expression that is interpreted by the artist or audience. His charming art style should not be ignored, his talent is there, and no matter what, whether conservative or not should be respected, especially the paintings that illustrated the world around him at a very divisive time.
Norman Rockwell pointed to a time of innocence in our country and really is an icon. How can we not revere his artwork? I realize he didn’t show the reality or the seamy underbelly that existed but in these current days of horror everywhere I am thankful to be able to look back at what we wanted to be. This was a great video!
A personal favorite of mine with Norman Rockwells Political series is “The Holdout”, I has really nice color and placement and it tackles a very unique issue. It always surprised me how progressive Norman Rockwell was
That painting and "Girl With the Black Eye" are my two favourites. They are a great portrayal (in the context of the time period) of the strength of women.
Norman Rockwell is a great fine art artist ❤ the special thing about him was, he painted the portraits of the people in his illustrations in a realistic way ,he also painted real and daily life ,some of the paintings indicated serious matters and the others were funny and cute ❤RIP Norman Rockwell he was a unique artist .
When I first learned about him, I learned about his wholesome American life paintings. As I got older, I found his progressive political pieces, which for some reason my old art teachers seemed to really try to hide from us despite their importance. I always liked his work, but discovering his political pieces made me fall in love with it completely.
As someone who collects his work I feel that people who hate it and think of it as boring and bland are those that only see "art" in the edgy and erotic. Only by pushing the bounds is it "art". For me, the reason I love his art is because much of it depicts the small town life I and my parents grew up in. It shows loving parents and grandparents bonding with children and children wrapped in the wonder that comes with innocents. It shows not necessarily how things are or were but how they should be.
If anyone L O V E S Rockwell, as an artist, innovator, person, patriot more, I don't see how! This video is going to draw Rockwell fans ($$$) that exist like no other because Rockwell is peerless on so many levels, America's best painter/Illustrator; none finer before or since. The power behind Rockwell's painting is incomparable. Further he is among the first and only to capture the new phenomena of candid photography in oil type compositions that held as much, or more I tell you, meaning than all the other great masters - anywhere, anytime - that good, imho. Rockwell composes his pictures like no other. Every feature contributes, there is little or no background anything; spartan and painstakingly chosen or not. So all parts of Rockwell's worx grab modern distracted, normally multi-tasking, fast-paced Americans' legendary immediate short attention span like the front page of a major newspaper in his day whereas all oils before were lifeless, formal engravings, favoring people and subjects of the patrons who could afford to buy them. We saw Rockwell get the best pictures of the best days and things of our everyday lives FIRST, like no other artist I know of, even close. Rockwell is second to none; timeless, universally good, imho.
I like this type of anatomical precise art. His art style is similar to mine. In art class everyone was always going for exaggerated and crazy angles or lines. This made me insecure in my art wondering if I maybe wasn't creative enough so it's very nice to see such beautiful and emotional art that doesn't have too much going on. Like my art.
Lovely, lovely video. Thanks. However, a slight clarification perhaps. The narration seems to interpret ‘freedom from want’ as freedom from wanting things, but I think it originally meant simply freedom from ‘need’-that is, freedom from needing food and the other necessities of life. While it may be true that our present society encourages ‘want’ in the sense of wanting material things, I don’t think it was freedom from this kind of ‘want’ that Roosevelt meant.
I might be biased but I always found his work interesting through his knowledge of anatomy and how he composes his paintings to be kinda candid. Yeah the angles aren't very dynamic, he doesn't have a mix of different medias and styles going on, but there's something nice about a simple POV because it's like you're in that scene with the people he's painting. They're usually composed that way, and it makes them cool.
I was born much after Rockwell’s time so I never got to see any sort of papers featuring his work. Although I was exposed to his works for the paper the most, as a POC I always and first saw him as a man that advocated for my freedom.
The only artist I allow myself to be a snob towards is Thomas Kinkade (who I thought had replaced Rockwell as the artist to look down upon). Lots of people love his art, however, and who am I to take that away from them. I've always found myself being offended by Art Snobs and their attitude towards Rockwell, for even as a kid I was drawn toward his sense of composition. His paintings point to something more than meets the eye (some would say the same is true of Kinkade's paintings, and no doubt that is true for many people). So who is right? What makes Art good or bad? Is it really merely a question of taste? If so, is that so bad? I don't know, it's a question that comes to mind when I'm being an art snob myself. 🙂
Rockfell was anything but formulaic. But he was no Kincaid. Maybe if he had laser lights exuding from the pupils of his subjects? Then he might be on Kincaid's level. (They say eyes are "the window to the soul" ) Cheers! :)
Recognizing the difference between good art and bad art does not make you a snob. Only thinking oneself better than others for it makes one a snob. Remember: Kitch is Kitch. Cheers! :(
amazing art first time to watch Norman Rockwell's art but as an animator i have a problem with Ruby Bridges right arm position, so is it intended to be drawn in this position?
A crucial aspect of "Freedom of Speech" is that the man speaking is wearing a blue-collar worker's uniform, while some of the people listening to him are wearing suits. I.e., anyone can voice their opinions, no matter their class.
Yeah. Most of the time though, us low-earning workers are too exhausted to go to city council meetings 😑
@@staceyhart9746 with close to a 0 chance of you getting listen
good detail for analysis here, thank you
The working class American is damn near absolutely meaningless to 99% of US politicians at this point
Thank you for pointing this out! It's absolutely vital to understanding the piece. A viewer at the time would immediately notice the class difference. It's even a tad subversive.
As someone who owns Rockwell's coursebooks inherited from my grandmother, calling him boring or prudish is laughable. Politics aside, he was extremely knowledgeable of human anatomy and his subjects are distinctly energetic and expressive. I blame the Post for his "bland and inoffensive" reputation.
plus, the commenter is acting like drawing a naked woman pussy first is somehow compelling and a revolutionary emancipation thing
I don’t think a post is responsible for this, many people haven’t even seen it and think the same but the real reason they think that is they don’t know anything about the art itself
@@invaderzim6904 The "Post" is the Saturday Evening Post, a now-defunct print magazine. Norman Rockwell worked for them as an illustrator and did their cover art. They wanted well done but innocuous art that would appeal to their white, middle-class customers.
@Samibamiwami - right! We become desensitized to the things we see often.
His figures and compositions are some of the most diverse in all of "commercial art". The details and colors of his works 👌
One of the things that drove me nuts in my art studies was the snobbish hatred of commercial illustrators particularly American ones. I wasn’t allowed to study or do reports on people like Rockwell or Gibson because they were seem as lesser artists. Which is crazy. It made me resent the people I was forced to study instead like Andy Warhol.
How can someone force you to like a particular kind of art or artist? Art is so subjective. I think one of the reasons Rockwell's art is seen as 'prudish and boring' is that it can be a little uncomfortable to see overdressed people in illustrations all the time, just as it can be equally unsettling to see badly drawn nudes. Maybe this is why Rockwell's art incites so much criticism, for being so 'clothed' as to appeal to only kids. I have the same feeling about hyperrealism; it is so boring that I fail to appreciate the hours of effort and skill behind making that sort of art. But I find Rockwell's skill beyond compare with anyone else's. I read a bit about his painting process and it's amazing how he created those exaggerated expressions and always included humour in his art.
@@sunayana4479 I compare hyper realistic paintings, drawings, etc. to the 2019 remake of Lion King. While it’s true it may have taken a lot of technical skill to create it, it’s just a copy of something else with no heart and soul. Maybe there is hyper realistic work that this comparison does not apply to, but to many, it does. I’ve seen enough hyper realistic portraits of Morgan Freeman, lol.
It's crazy, because magazines like The New Yorker have vibrant art on their covers.
Me whenever someone says Rockwell was not that skilled: have you seen the skin he painted? The wrinkles and colors and blending? He didn't always just paint "pretty" people either. I think he'd have a better rep if his art hadn't been in magazines and advertisements. If they hung in galleries only, snobby people would like them better imo.
I think Amos Sewell is underrated. He was way ahead of his time in that he sort of understood how absurd this 50s imagery of happy perfect families was. He's not technically ourstanding but he makes me laugh and illustration should do that. As in, illustration should be clear and make you think, feel etc. before you start picking on the technique.
Ruby being dressed in white is clearly trying to show how pure and in the right she is. It also contrasts her dark skin, making it obvious what this painting is about.
I like that he did that. He could've decided to forego this extra layer by painting her in the clothes she wore but he didn't because he wanted to say something more. If you wanna know what she wore, go find a photograph; he's painting, hightening, stylizing reality. Thats what art is.
Isn’t it problematic to associate white with purity and goodness and black with the opposite. I think he made the outfit white to contrast with her skin and simplify it, nothing more
@@Koki-hc3mw
No one's skin is paper white. The color is very stark and is associated with purity more than it is skin color, I think.
@@zarinaa1135 yes, it is associated with cleanliness. A lot of people of Afro-Caribbean do wear all white outfits as well.
@@Koki-hc3mw lots of angels and biblical figures were painted in white because the color white is symbolic. It’s been used for probably more than a thousand years. So he definitely used white to show her pureness, because almost everyone can understand his point just by looking at it.
@@Koki-hc3mw no. unless you specifically make the fact that someone being black is impure, i don't think it's problematic
I think Norman Rockwell is the only true “expression”ist. The faces of his characters are full of so much life. The art community has such a bad reputation because of people like whoever posted that Facebook comment. So snotty. Norman Rockwell will always be one of the greats. Also, when it comes to “The problem we live with” not only is it from the point of view of a protester, but maybe even a child. It’s a child’s perspective. They are of Ruby’s height.
Was the problem the girl?
Rockwell was one of my heroes, as a young aspiring artist, but this was only because I regarded him as a great draughtsman and story-teller.
However, I grew up and, over time, it became clearer to me that the primary weakness in all of Rockwell’s 'political' work is that it looks at America through rose-colored glasses.
The Four Freedoms represents America’s much touted ideals not America’s reality. Not even today. Not even close.
'The Problem We All Live With' presents only idealized Whites protecting a Black child. Her attackers, who we know far outnumber them by millions, aren’t visible! One partially obscured epithet and single piece of smashed fruit barely represent the very real threat that girl lives with - Irrationally MURDEROUS White racists. Not a single rage-distorted face or fist balled in anger is shown. Only White heroes. Only protectors.
Though unacceptable for the cover of The Saturday Evening Post, it’s feel-good, idealized America imagery at it’s Rockwellian finest.
I believe Rockwell a good man but this work remained in the thrall of the same White racism that, still today, has too great an influence on the 'American DREAM' for us to be able to regard the work as genuinely political. It hides the truth of America as effectively as sheets hid(e) the faces of Klansmen and sensibilities of thousands of Whites so deeply enured to racism that they’re in deep denial regarding their own role in maintaining it as a means to evade being ostracized by the racists that exists among their own families and friends if not their own hearts.
@@idcook - you've completely misinterpreted "The Problem We All Live With." The focus is not on the girl's protectors at all...they're anonymous, headless figures, almost part of the background. The focus is on Ruby herself, especially the contrast between her (small, innocent, and eager to learn) and the adult-world violence that surrounds her.
The painting's message is clearly something like "Seriously, people? A little girl going to school is such a huge 'threat' that she needs bodyguards to protect her from you? Isn't this ridiculous? How are you not ashamed of yourselves?"
Norman Rockwell was a brilliant visual storyteller, and he knew how to reach an audience. Showing the rage-distorted faces of the protesters would allow a white audience to look on the protestors as "others," as people dumber or more violent than them. It lets suburban white folk say "Well, at least I'm not like those dumb Southern rednecks. The problem is them, not me." Rockwell instead put the viewer smack dab in the place of the protesters, seeing what they see...but in a way that makes them see exactly what it is they're afraid of: an innocent little girl, no different from any child going to school. It makes a viewer ask, "If I were there, would I have felt like them?"
Norman Rockwell did see things through rose-colored glasses...but that's because he saw human beings as basically decent. He saw the similarities between all of us, and usually aimed to show that in his pictures. The stories he told through his art were small, personal stories.
"The Problem We All Live With" is not about racism...it is about Ruby Bridges on her first day of school. It's about an innocent child and the irrational, inexplicable hatred that surrounded her.
It says to the viewer, "There is nothing about this girl to be afraid of. She's not the problem...WE are."
@@idcook
No, the problem Rockwell is alluding to is the adversity that this little girl has to face just to get an education. What kind of question is that?
Which he absolutely is. There are honestly only a few artists out there that can really capture a scene like Rockwell. Everything he ever did oozes personality.
You have to understand that Rockwell lived in a time where the collective sharing of miseries in America had united most people living there, and the culture was one of optimism, American exceptionalism, and opposition to fascism. The Four Freedoms is propaganda, sure. But it’s the good kind. It got us fighting the Nazis.
Of course, I don’t believe America has EVER kept the promises of her constitution, especially for us non-whites, but that “Exceptionalism” was the culture that Rockwell came up in. He couldn’t help being born white, and he couldn’t help not knowing the full score. Ignorance is not a sin, stupidity is, and Rockwell wasn’t a stupid man by any means. I don’t believe you can judge the past with modern sensibilities. It isn’t fair.
My reading of “The Problem” was that little Ruby, surrounded on both sides by towering, faceless men, and presumably screaming whites on one side, was in danger, and the artist wants you to feel protective, like how the photo of the earth from the moon makes it look small and fragile. We don’t need to see twisted white faces, all of that is heavily implied. At least to me, Ruby looks scared.
We’re supposed to understand that this crowd of whites, is so threatened by a tiny child learning, that they threw shit at the wall, and then to finish the indignation, scrawled one of the ugliest words in the English language on it. All for this small, innocent, child. I believe Rockwell knew exactly what he was doing here. He didn’t need to show any of what you were talking about, a 1960’s audience would have gotten the message.
And I believe it’s definitely made to make the viewer feel shame. It’s why the title is such an apropo name for it all. We, as Americans, must all live with the indignation of racism, because it affects us all, one way or another.
No, I simply disagree. There’s nothing “feel good” about The Problem We All Live with. It’s a frightening painting, because it beautifully renders a national shame in oil paints.
I don’t disagree that many stupid people today have adopted his art as a symbol of white capitalism or something like that, but they obviously misconstrue it. Rockwell painted mostly banal consumerist art, yes, but it was GOOD. And the minute he was cut loose from his job, he started painting more provocative pieces from a white-guy perspective that he couldn’t help having.
I guess what I’m saying is, he was one of the greatest draftsmen of all time, and his heart was in the right place. A world without his legacy is a lesser one.
Do you know what expressionism means?
@@brandonchavez9924 - that's a great reply, and I totally agree!
New Kids In The Neighborhood is probably one of my favorite pantings just because of the detail put into the scene. Even the pets are curious of each other and the kids look almost hesitant, like as if they were told that they can't play with them but they are going to anyways. I'm not really an artist or anything like that, but I always loved it
Yeah, it portrays an innocence and hope for the next generation. They are “different” but it's superficial. They are still all kids and can still be friends, despite what they may have been told.
I also think the fact that one pet is a cat and one is a dog is significant. Because cats and dogs stereotypically “hate” each other, showing them curious about each other may be symbolic of how black and white people are “supposed” to hate each other, but these children don’t care.
@@ioncekilledamanwithmyshoe Not to mention the black kids' cat is white and the white kids' dog is black.
Funny enough, paying attention to their poses really amuse me.
The black children look rather stiff, as if they're trying to keep themselves proper in a way in front of the white Children.
And the white children look jittery and curious, as if they dont, (or at least aren't "supposed ") to care about how they behave in front of the black children.
Maybe I'm looking too deeply into it, but then again there's no such thing in art.
@@blackprimrose7541 i think you're right.
Yelling slurs at a 6 year old girl! And people love to talk about the good old days. She was very strong, stronger than she should have ever had to have been. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
In a Democrat city full of Democrat voters just like how Little Rock Nine were targeted by all Democrat voters & their Democrat Governor.
@@chouchoue pardon me but that doesn't have anything to do with what happened here and her strength under great adversity. Either side of the aisle.
@@let_uslunch8884 It was all Democrats. It took Republican POTUS to use army2 force Democrat Arkansas to integrate Blacks. Arkansas kept on being Democrat and denying Civil Rights Act for 30 years. Bill Clinton with his KKK friend Senator Byrd. Of course it's important. Democrats are still cracking the whip.
I ever wonder if the other people yelling and heckling Ruby would feel if their children ever got deaths threats and verbal abuse aimed at them or how much of the kids that grew up realized how shit their parents actually were.
@@girlscanbedrummers5804 exactly!
I've never understood why showing people being happy is a bad thing in art.
I believe it’s due to the problem of people thinking cynicism = smart, which leads to a surplus of idiots up there own asses thinking anything is happy/hopeful is stupid and anything saying “humanity sucks, everything is awful” is automatically brilliant
@@christopherauzenne5023 you just summed up the entire rick and morty fandom
@@christopherauzenne5023 you fricking hit the nail holy shit
@@christopherauzenne5023 "I believe it’s due to the problem of people thinking cynicism = smart"
well, to be fair, there are a lot more happy, dumb people.
it is a blessing.
critics like to value sorrow more than joy most of the time. In reality, genuine joy can be harder to capture and also more powerful than sorrow. It takes a great artist to portray it without becoming goofy
I like how the black kids have a white cat and the white kids have a black dog looking at each other 10:37
Calling Norman Rockwell "bland" is insulting. He was a master of the things he incorporated and displayed in his art.
He did paint very mundane things though. I don't agree with calling him bland at all, but it's understandable how people could see a few of his works and conclude that so quickly and dismissively.
His art for the post was definitely inoffensive (mostly because they gave him rules for what he could and couldnt paint and had the final say in what would be used as the cover). but bland? hell no. His style is extremely recognizable to this day.
Only if 'bland' is insulting. Plain rice well cooked is bland compared to most food, but can be delicious. One only needs a palate for subtleness.
Cheers! :)
He was a master at portraying emotion through facial expressions.
Most artists can just wish to paint like him
My grandfather James “Jim” Martin is in all four of the Four Freedom paintings. He lived a few houses down from Norman Rockwell in Arlington, Vermont . We are also cousins with Norman Rockwell’s model for Rosie the Riveter, Mary Doyle.
That's amazing
Thank you for sharing your Grandfather's (and YOURS!) history with us here...
I love these little factoids you can only get from others. That's the best part of social media!
Woah, that’s amazing!!
So refreshing to see Rockwell portrayed as a progressive soul, instead of the usual regionalist conservative.
why not both?
not to mention that conservatism didn't always mean daydreaming fascist. Conservatism used to only be an economic belief rather than the shitstorm of conspiracy and idiocy it is today.
@@oogooboggins5956 it isnt that today
@@stanisawzokiewski3308 True, why not. Conservative doesn't mean reactionary, after all.
@@stanisawzokiewski3308 It definitely gets a new meaning today in a quickly dissolving society, that can't keep the promises of freedom, that progressives started with some 60 years ago. That glue of trust that had kept society together, which is the basis of freedom and what Rockwell mainly emphasized in his art, hasn't been replaced with a new working cultural system.
i never knew this, norman rockwell is one of my favorite artists ever BECAUSE his paintings were based on iconic moments that seemed so boring, but were and are the bones that make american culture, makes me incredibly happy and heart warmed. even his political paintings are part of this holy grail that makes american culture, rebellion. rebellion is and has been such an important part of american culture since our conception.
Thank you for showing Rockwell for the progressive that he was. The people who believe he wasn't, are the same people who think Born in the USA and This Land is Your Land are patriotic nationalist songs when in the contrary, they're protest songs. This Land is Your Land is a song against private property, the point being that the country belongs to everyone and not a certain group of rich people. Woody got rid of the private property verse so he wouldn't get caught by McCarthy. Is it still patriotic to do a protest song to show you care about the country? Of course, but the meaning of the songs diminishes when people misinterpret it for what they're actually about.
And his art shouldn't be political, they're human rights. It shouldn't be a political issue to give everyone equal treatment.
Nice editting at 10:02 ! It caught me off guard
I'm very happy that effect didn't go unnoticed! Thanks!
Great video! I remember seeing the Four Freedoms on posters all throughout my elementary school and middle school. Norman Rockwell is one of my favorite artists.
Thank you Elizabeht! I'm happy you enjoyed the video!
Ha, there’s a print of The Marriage License in my house. 😛
Rockwell’s “The Problem We All Live With” is one of the great American paintings of the 20th century! Seeing the actual work is a profoundly moving experience.
"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." - Aristotle
Art is unquestionably one of the purest and highest elements. It trains the mind through the eye, and the eye through the mind. As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life. The good and the bad.
Thanks, Kim Jong-un
I feel that what you don’t realize is that while Rockwells earlier work is seen as marketable & bland, it also invokes strong ties to Americana & nostalgia. These are both two things that are missing in modern day art. Didn’t know about Rockwells later paintings though, very interesting
Because they're not important factors in most art pieces.
I think most people realize that actually, it's just that they disagree that "Americana and nostalgia" is inherently valuable in the way you imply when you say they're "missing" from modern art. It's called bland because it looks like every other product churned out to appeal to one demographic that's had a monopoly on American visual art for centuries. That kind of monopoly has essentially reiterated these same ideas and visual tropes again and again, outside of Rockwell, with an insistence that these ideas do in fact reflect "the past", "real Americans" and "ordinary life". In effect painting rosy-cheeked white kids and friendly cops at the soda fountain is no less political (and no more objective) than Socialist Realism.
It's kinda interesting cause his later works should invoke enough of a reaction of it being "unamerican," which is sorta unique how he evolves from the epitome of American nostalgia to a social realist taken to the next level.
I had the privilege of seeing many of Norman Rockwell's pieces in person at his museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and I highly recommend that anyone who finds themselves in western MA pay them a visit. His work is impactful and stunning in a way that digital images don't do it justice. Freedom of Speech nearly brought me to tears. The museum has a great balance of his fun and quirky pieces to his social and political works and all of it is well thought out and skillfully created. It's been years since I've visited, but I think about it often.
I used to take frequent vacations there due to Tanglewood (a famous park for concerts) one of my favorite passtimes was to hang around the Red Lion Inn, which is featured in one of his populare paintings. ( Try the soup)
He was like "local celebrity" and everyone I knew there seemed to all have a least one print of his, somewhere in their homes.
I think it's interesting that 'Freedom from Want' is more accurately depicting a 'Freedom from need'. Grandma and Grandpa are looking over a long dinner table of family and friends, in a solid house, and sharing food. Their guests are looking at each other more than they are looking at the food, demonstrating the deep sense of love the family has for each other. For the material aspects, the room itself seems only big enough to hold the family, and they are a bit cramped. The clothing they wear is modest and unassuming, and the dishes are mostly simple and functional. We don't see any of the clothing of the guests, just their faces. The message is if you have enough to bring your closest together and provide for them, you won't want much else. Except for a glass of white wine to go with the turkey, eh? I know it would mess with the composition but . . . . . .
"Need" used to be one of the meanings of "want". So yes, that's exactly what it shows: freedom from poverty and hunger.
The people in the painting have needs - they just happen to have been met, so they no longer ‘want’.
Exactly. When FDR said "freedom from want" he was speaking of hunger and abject poverty, not desire.
That's often the problem with the drift of language. When the meaning of words changes over time the intent of statements using them gets lost or distorted.
@@DamnedSilly “well regulated militia” 🙄
I never noticed this until today: On "The Problem We All Live With", his name is center bottom in the painting. As intentional as he was with the rest of it, I can't help but think that was also a statement. Back in those days (according to my grandparents, who were both 1930s babies), what you 'put your name to' said a lot about who you were. Your signature on the ballot, your statements in town meetings or in your friends' gatherings, all the things you said or refrained from saying were telling of your character. So, seeing that he put his name to these works is eye-opening. Thank you for this video!
Norman Rockwells work moves me, brings me such joy, As an Australian I only discovered his work a few years ago and have loved it since. I can’t wait to get one of his books. His way to capture life is amazing.
Back in college when I was getting my degree in Fine arts with a minor in art history, I worked in the Norman Rockwell museum of illustration in Lenox Massachusetts as an intern. I highly recommend anyone in the area to check the museum out. 'The four freedoms' hang there as well as 'The problem we all live with' and many of his other works. the museum often showcases the works of other famous illustrators and even animators. Norman Rockwell's work really inspired me. I will always love how much personality exists in all of of his depictions.
Thank you for the recommendation!
Thanks! I didn't know this about NR.
I loved this video!!!
but man that facebook comment shows how ready someone is to defend a drawing of a naked woman especially when it conforms to how society imposes how women should look, while still misrepresenting a great artist with a very easy to understand art style but one that still carries strong political statements.
Unironically the facebook comment was defending "pretty art" that wasn't saying anything compared to art that was communicating something. Anytime someone says prude its because their sexual gratification is threatened or criticized
a wonderful analysis, that's what i call quality content
I’m an avid fan artists using oil paints to make realism art. Rockwell art is absolutely stunning in its own right, and even though his past paintings were quiet blanked and held the old American “dream” it also shows a look how America viewed the American dream in the past.
Though now we are diverse as ever and it’s normal to have your own version of your American dream, but back then standing out and being different wasn’t okay. His paintings are both stunning and heart wrenching. It shows us the double lives of old Americans, one that is fabricated and one that makes you look to fully understand.
Superb analysis and thanks for introducing me to Norman Rockwell!
Aw thank you so much!
I don’t know much about art but this captivated me. Thanks for uploading 😊
Rockwell vs Leyendecker are like two legendary sage of six paths
I have all of the ‘Saturday Evening Post’ magazines with Rockwell covers or paintings featured inside. They are amazing.
That is amazing. I hope you have the collection insured.
Thanks!
The quality of your content is amazing! Thank you for all the videos
Thank you for watching! That's so sweet of you!
I've loved Norman Rockwell since I was a kid, back then not for any particular reason other than I liked how it looked, but now it's mostly because of what he wanted to say. I was fortunate to get to see the Lucas/Spielberg Normal Rockwell collection at the Smithsonian years ago, and that was one of my favorite exhibitions.
Thank you so much for making these! I’m interested in learning more about realistic paintings and this is a great help ❤️
I'm respecting the analysis. But the young Ruby Bridges was somewhat more in fear than being eager to go to school and not fully aware of what was going on around her. Children don't know anything about politics. Rockwell placed her off center for two main reasons:
1) to expose the graffiti message and tomato splatter
2) the painting was meant to be the "centerfold" for Look magazine
Ruby was pretty aware actually. She's talked about before, she's still alive on fact and so are most the women who terrorized her, that she knew they didn't want her at the school and that's why she was the only student in the class. I can't remember if either she or the one teacher willing to teach said it, but she was descrubed as an eager student.
I'm sure she didn't know the act that changed the law for her to go there, but Black children know racism from experience and the precautionary lessons parents have to give. Even more so back then.
I find it unsettling that in " The problem we all live " , the federal agents are in the same position , like they are dancing
They are marching, which is fitting. And if they were dancing a jig, would that not -- in its own way -- be fitting too?
Cheers! :)
ugh, this channel
I see Norman Rockwell less of an artist and more of a storyteller in pictures. Of almost everyone of his paintings you can see the story of what has happened, and/or what will happen. In this he really is a master.
great analysis and great video..thank you so much for subtitles.
I'm so thankful for this video! I visited the Norman Rockwell museum last year and definitely recommend it. Such a great experience.
That ending man, it was beautiful.
Thank you for that my friend
My grandfather was the model for the guy in the moving van, he was actually working as a mover at the time and had his picture taken at work.
He got a few dollars and a copy for it, which hung over the kitchen table until he died. Now, I have it.
An article about Rockwell in Smithsonian magazine a few years ago described a major exhibit of his work in New York City shortly after his death. It quoted leading avant-garde artists of the time commenting on what they saw. Willem de Kooning said "he was a Hyper-Realist before his time." Andy Warhol said of Rockwell's "The Connoisseur," in which a man visiting a museum is viewing a painting in Jackson Pollock's style: "square inch for square inch, that's better than Jackson."
I don’t know why people don’t like Norman Rockwell. I always found his art interesting. His art always conveyed this level of surrealism that felt like you were looking at a photo rather than paint. So much detail goes into his work and it’s beautiful.
lol your comment with that icon and name really go together
yeah its like the backgrounds look painted but the people look so much like photos, you'd think it was a mixed-media collage if you didn't know better
I would not have used the word 'surreal'. Cheers! :)
Rockwell’s art is powerful and profound.
In "Freedom From Want" the side dishes are simple, healthful, probably home-grown vegetables. The drinks are simply water. Abundance is not about excess or about satisfying rich desires. Freedom from want means having enough and being grateful for what we have. Definitely a pointedly political, critical piece of art. This Thanksgiving dinner could be a warm invitation, or a moral warning, depending on the viewer's deeper value system. Would the viewer be *truly* grateful for celery and water among loving friends? One of my favorites.
Difficult to be free from want when the entire agricultural-industrial complex demands you buy more to furnish them with persistent annual profit growth.
Freedom from want is about having enough yes, but not about whether you are content with it. Cheers!
Great video, thank you.
I have always appreciated the expression of love for people in Rockwell's paintings, but had assumed him to be very White Establishment in his outlook and was uncomfortable with it. I had no idea about the extent of his humane politics. Wonderful!
As a side issue, I do think the nude sketch at the beginning shows a level of prurience, and the jibe at 'wholesome' illustration is uncalled for.
I'm very glad to have learned about this. Thank you.
I developed a deep appreciation of Norman Rockwell paintings because of Hometown Buffet actually, I would stare at them while waiting in line as a kid, and they always just had a sense of warmth to them.
Notice that the tomato on the wall created a bloody bird.
a bloody eagle
I've always been fascinated by Norman Rockwell's artwork. I admit when I was younger I particularly enjoyed going to Hometown Buffet as I got to look at all the artwork they had of him. Curiously I never did one of my usual deep dive binges into a subject I'm interested with him. Granted I suppose I was reluctant to as I didn't want to reduce him to a human being rather this mysterious figure that painted pictures in a way that just really wormed into me. The fact that he did pictures he quit his job and did paintings of a strong political stance on the right side of history moves me even more.
I've been let down by a lot of people that I looked up to as a kid especially in these last two years as so many folks seem to have lost their minds during and after the pandemic. Its nice to have one of them actually be a better man than I thought he was.
PS: It kind of gives new meaning to the use of "Freedom from Want" style painting in the end credits of the original Lilo & Stitch considering the scenario surrounding the both of them. Don't know if it was done on purpose, but good on them either way.
I feel like in the art world, happy and carefree depictions of humanity are seen as below, compared to angsty and horror. I love paintings that can be both
Happy and carefree depictions of humanity are seen as being easy to use as propaganda, and it is. It's the art equivalent of the phrase 'journalism is whatever someone doesn't want published, all else is public relations'. Very few things worth depicting in art are positive.
That said, if you think that the art world is ONLY obsessed with angst or horror, you haven't read much art criticism lately. Some of the classic art critic buzzwords are things like 'playful' or 'humorous' or 'ironic'. Parodying existing artworks alone is a really widespread trend on its own.
All expressions are represented of life. If we only had one genre of film then it would not reach many, same goes for art. We need a variety of it made from all walks of life to truly communicate with others.
@@olivercuenca4109 I am an art major, people often create sorrowful scenes as way of coping and others usually resonate with it as their own way of coping. Most scenes I have learned about in my art history classes have had darker routes because art at the end of the day is one person trying to communicate. And sometimes the message they are sending is a plea to be understood or a certain plea for help. It why even with religious art we get scenes of the saddest moments of the figure’s story. It’s true that happiness can be used for propaganda but I see just as but grief and anger sketches for the same ads.
@@matchamochi781 that's very insightful, thank you!
the piece of ruby getting escorted to school somehow reminds me of banksky
Fantastic video. I never knew that Rockwell was so committed to his political beliefs.
I guess it goes to show that you don't always need to be angry and hostile to fight for what's right.
My Dad hated Norman Rockwell. Dad was painting modern expressionism in the late 1950s and 60s. He felt plainly that Rockwell's saccharin taste of his subjects and that Rockwell pounded his messages home with a sledge hammer. Dad also thought his painting technique was mediocre. I wasn't quick enough then to ask if Dad also had issues with Norman Rockwell's underwear? I have spied at most of the videos presented of Rockwell, secretly wandering, trying to find out why Dad thought he was a bum. Over the years I have grown to appreciate the subtleties of his work, yet you have presented things to me that I didn't know or the stories that flesh out the artist I wasn't aware of.
I thank you for all of this! I have to add, I've been staring at blank walls in the dinet in my house. I can't imagine a better place to hang a reproduction of "The Runaway."
Norman Rockwell was a story teller I love his work
And telling a story is the best art.
I've always loved Norman Rockwell paintings and never thought of them as bland. Nor do I give less value to his non political paintings.
You did a really great job. Thanks!!
I loved Norman Rockwell's work before I even knew who he was (I'm in the UK, btw). Thank you for making this video. It's such a shame that the four freedoms, something we all should be striving for, are the things that get thrown to the wayside. And thank you for giving me an awareness that I didn't have before of NR's political works, so beautifully created and as resonant now as they were when he created them - and that also encapsulate the four Freedoms too.
I don't know why, and it's not that much of a big deal, but i have to tell you, the words you said at the end of the video whilst the soft but warming music played , made me smile. I think it was the words - "through his typical and sensitive description of child innocence". It's really simple, but i felt a sense of fondness when you said and couldn't help but smile. So thank you, you gave forth knowledge and a smile to me this evening.
Thank you for making this video - I actually love how subversive Rockwell is and this is an important part of his work that often gets overlooked. My favorite thing at a job I hated (serving an affluent neighborhood) was seeing one of Norman's large posters displayed prominently in the restroom. The piece was political commentary on classism and it tickled me every time I saw it because these people didn't know what they were displaying 🤣 Oh, Norman 🤘 bless.
One thing I noticed is that ruby bridges location in the left side of the frame emphasised the thrown tomato, as if she just dodged it.
"I can really warm up to summer" - Norman Rockwell.
Classic
I know this video is old but I’m new to your channel. I’ve watched quite a few of your videos over the last couple days. I don’t know if you will see this but when I saw the real picture of Ruby Bridges smiling to contextualize the painting I absolutely lost it. I have a 7 year old daughter and thinking about the aggression this little girl faced just for being allowed to go to school, and how excited and scared she must have been had me choking in tears tbh. My daughter and her friends are truly innocent and to this day there are still people who hate and are aggressive toward minority children. I am so glad for this video and I am going to be staring at this painting for a while. Thank you
Fue un artista extremadamente talentoso, sus bellas imágenes captan importantes valores en la vida cotidiana del pueblo norteamericano con gente ordinaria, pero más que reflejar la “realidad” yo creo que la mayoría de su obra refleja la sociedad idealizada. Podemos estar de acuerdo o no con los temas pero eso no le resta calidad y belleza a su obra.
Artists can make statements in their own interesting, different and maybe even groundbreaking ways. Rockwell didn’t have to break boundaries in the making of the art, but at the end of the day, art is an expression that is interpreted by the artist or audience. His charming art style should not be ignored, his talent is there, and no matter what, whether conservative or not should be respected, especially the paintings that illustrated the world around him at a very divisive time.
Beautiful video! Thank you for sharing!
Thank YOU for watching, commenting and enjoying! It's great support!
Norman Rockwell pointed to a time of innocence in our country and really is an icon. How can we not revere his artwork? I realize he didn’t show the reality or the seamy underbelly that existed but in these current days of horror everywhere I am thankful to be able to look back at what we wanted to be. This was a great video!
A personal favorite of mine with Norman Rockwells Political series is “The Holdout”, I has really nice color and placement and it tackles a very unique issue. It always surprised me how progressive Norman Rockwell was
That painting and "Girl With the Black Eye" are my two favourites. They are a great portrayal (in the context of the time period) of the strength of women.
This video is great.
Thank you very much!
Loved his work . . still do . had a ton of the papers . . just beautiful . 🙏👍😍😃😇💛
I love your videos, keep them coming!
Thanks!!
I really loved your conclusion thank you
Saw an exhibit of his work in Connecticut a few weeks ago and it was really neat
He depicted these issues /through childlike innocence/. That’s not bland or prudish… that’s powerful! I love that!
Norman Rockwell is a great fine art artist ❤ the special thing about him was, he painted the portraits of the people in his illustrations in a realistic way ,he also painted real and daily life ,some of the paintings indicated serious matters and the others were funny and cute ❤RIP Norman Rockwell he was a unique artist .
When I first learned about him, I learned about his wholesome American life paintings. As I got older, I found his progressive political pieces, which for some reason my old art teachers seemed to really try to hide from us despite their importance. I always liked his work, but discovering his political pieces made me fall in love with it completely.
I'm sure he would have made a great street photographer but boy was he a fantastic artist...
As someone who collects his work I feel that people who hate it and think of it as boring and bland are those that only see "art" in the edgy and erotic. Only by pushing the bounds is it "art". For me, the reason I love his art is because much of it depicts the small town life I and my parents grew up in. It shows loving parents and grandparents bonding with children and children wrapped in the wonder that comes with innocents. It shows not necessarily how things are or were but how they should be.
I think it's bland but tasty and enriching. Like quality steamed rice, versus a heavily spiced dish.
Bland is underrated.
Cheers! :)
I also agree . I’ll choose Norman Rockwell over any erotic art . 0ur world right now has embraced degenerate mindset . What a disappointing thing
@@zapazapThat's a unique perspective of "bland".
If anyone L O V E S Rockwell, as an artist, innovator, person, patriot more, I don't see how! This video is going to draw Rockwell fans ($$$) that exist like no other because Rockwell is peerless on so many levels, America's best painter/Illustrator; none finer before or since. The power behind Rockwell's painting is incomparable. Further he is among the first and only to capture the new phenomena of candid photography in oil type compositions that held as much, or more I tell you, meaning than all the other great masters - anywhere, anytime - that good, imho. Rockwell composes his pictures like no other. Every feature contributes, there is little or no background anything; spartan and painstakingly chosen or not. So all parts of Rockwell's worx grab modern distracted, normally multi-tasking, fast-paced Americans' legendary immediate short attention span like the front page of a major newspaper in his day whereas all oils before were lifeless, formal engravings, favoring people and subjects of the patrons who could afford to buy them. We saw Rockwell get the best pictures of the best days and things of our everyday lives FIRST, like no other artist I know of, even close. Rockwell is second to none; timeless, universally good, imho.
i would love an analysis into the “moving in/new neighbours,new kids” painting by norman as well?
Huge respect towards the artist man
I like this type of anatomical precise art. His art style is similar to mine. In art class everyone was always going for exaggerated and crazy angles or lines. This made me insecure in my art wondering if I maybe wasn't creative enough so it's very nice to see such beautiful and emotional art that doesn't have too much going on. Like my art.
Totally wild. I didn't realize the turkey dinner painting was political. Awesome.
Excellent analysis. Great content. 👍👍👍
I like to comment on your excellent channel, but you went and said it all... Great minds think alike.
Lovely, lovely video. Thanks. However, a slight clarification perhaps. The narration seems to interpret ‘freedom from want’ as freedom from wanting things, but I think it originally meant simply freedom from ‘need’-that is, freedom from needing food and the other necessities of life. While it may be true that our present society encourages ‘want’ in the sense of wanting material things, I don’t think it was freedom from this kind of ‘want’ that Roosevelt meant.
I might be biased but I always found his work interesting through his knowledge of anatomy and how he composes his paintings to be kinda candid. Yeah the angles aren't very dynamic, he doesn't have a mix of different medias and styles going on, but there's something nice about a simple POV because it's like you're in that scene with the people he's painting. They're usually composed that way, and it makes them cool.
Love the video❤❤
Thank you Ivy!!!
I was born much after Rockwell’s time so I never got to see any sort of papers featuring his work. Although I was exposed to his works for the paper the most, as a POC I always and first saw him as a man that advocated for my freedom.
The only artist I allow myself to be a snob towards is Thomas Kinkade (who I thought had replaced Rockwell as the artist to look down upon). Lots of people love his art, however, and who am I to take that away from them. I've always found myself being offended by Art Snobs and their attitude towards Rockwell, for even as a kid I was drawn toward his sense of composition. His paintings point to something more than meets the eye (some would say the same is true of Kinkade's paintings, and no doubt that is true for many people). So who is right? What makes Art good or bad? Is it really merely a question of taste? If so, is that so bad? I don't know, it's a question that comes to mind when I'm being an art snob myself. 🙂
Rockfell was anything but formulaic. But he was no Kincaid. Maybe if he had laser lights exuding from the pupils of his subjects? Then he might be on Kincaid's level.
(They say eyes are "the window to the soul" )
Cheers! :)
Recognizing the difference between good art and bad art does not make you a snob. Only thinking oneself better than others for it makes one a snob.
Remember: Kitch is Kitch.
Cheers! :(
this is a monument to video essays. thank you for this seminal work
This was beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
This video was so interesting! Great work
amazing art first time to watch Norman Rockwell's art but as an animator i have a problem with Ruby Bridges right arm position, so is it intended to be drawn in this position?
is this a LDR reference?
Hey this is a nice analysis. I did see an African-American artist was creating modern versions of these images, which were also quite moving.
could you link me the art? i wanna check it out myself
@@fartnutte1724 same, I'd love to see their depictions
Norman Rockwell has gone on record, saying that he doesn’t paint pictures, but tell stories without words. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
That’s every painting