"American Stories: Revolution to Rockwell" at The Normal Rockwell Museum

"Murder in Mississippi" by Norman Rockwell (1963)

It's likely that when you think of Norman Rockwell it's his covers for The Saturday Evening Post that come to mind. After all, he created 323 cover images for the magazine over the 47 years he worked there. But Rockwell had more to say in his art than the somewhat sentimental depictions of American life that graced the magazine's covers. And with the advent of the Civil Rights Movement, he didn't agree with the Post's policy that Blacks should only be depicted in minor or subservient roles. 

In 1963, Rockwell parted ways with his longtime employer and moved to Look, a magazine that embraced photojournalism. "Murder in Mississippi" (also known as "Southern Justice") is a painting Rockwell created that year for an investigative article in Look. This work is so different from what I associate with Rockwell that I looked at the wall card multiple times to confirm that he was indeed the artist. 

The painting depicts Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwermer, the civil rights workers who were murdered by Klansmen in Mississippi. It gives me the chills to see Goodman lying dead, Chaney dying and Schwermer looking straight into the eyes of his firing squad, shown as ominous shadows with guns. The sepia tones of the work are interrupted only by the red blood on Chaney's shirt. It's an image that's both hard to look at and hard to look away from. For a deeper dive into Rockwell's process for creating "Murder in Mississippi" and more, click here. It's worth a look. 

"Lincoln Park, Chicago, Democratic
National Committee" by Robert Weaver (1968)

While the Museum features the work of Rockwell, its special exhibits include the work of other artists. Robert Weaver's "Lincoln Park, Chicago Democratic Convention" from 1968 paints a powerful image of the tumult of that time. The work is an example of illustrators becoming serious commentators rather than mere illustrators. Weaver was a proponent of this shift, saying that "Too often [illustrators] merely aid and abet the pre-sold illusion of the age." 

The split scene depicts an image of Lincoln Park with an inset of police entering the same park wearing tactical gear. The layering represents the park at different times, sometimes a bucolic setting and other times the scene of protests and violence. 

The protesters included the Yippies, members of the Youth International Party that the internet describes as "a radical, theatrical anti-authoritarian group [that] mixed 1960s counterculture with leftist politics, using street theater and pranks to mock the government." Think Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin. It was these protests that led to the conspiracy trial of the Chicago Seven. Talk about a subject that is worthy of -- but won't receive here -- a deep dive. 

"Locked in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire,
New York City 1917" by Frances Jetter (2019)

Next up is "Locked in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, New York City, 1917" by Frances Jetter. It's starting to feel like American history only has tragedies, isn't it? Stick with me as this post ends on a more optimistic note. 

The 1911 fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory led to the death of 146 workers. Tragedies happen, of course. But the true tragedy in this case is that the deaths of most of those people could have been avoided. 

Building owners Max Blanck and Isaac Harris had a history of non-compliance with proper safety protocols. (They also had a history of torching their buildings for insurance payments, although they only did that when the building was empty.) The lack of adequate safety measures became deadly when a discarded cigarette or match landed in a bin of fabric scraps. For more on the tragedy, click here. 

The top half of Jetter's painting features an image of people with umbrellas and notes "New York City streets were filled with mourners and protesters." Limiting the palette to black and white is both a reference to archival photography and to the dark reality of working conditions in the factory. The lower half shows Blanck and Harris. The language on the left of the painting states the following concerning the men's trial and their ongoing business:

-- Factory owners Blanck and Harris were found not guilty of manslaughter. 

-- They settled 23 civil suits, paying $75 per life lost. 

-- Their new factory was a firetrap with no fire escapes or adequate exits. 

-- In August 1913, Blanck was fined $20 for locking a door during working hours. The judge apologized to him. 

For more work by Francis Jetter, click here. 

"New Kids in the Neighborhood" (1967)

As I promised, I'll end with a more optimistic work. Rockwell's "New Kids in the Neighborhood" was created following the desegregation of Chicago's Park Forest Community and shows kids sussing each other out. There's curiosity but no fear. If only things were so simple.

The work calls to mind Rockwell's iconic image of Ruby Bridges walking to school with agents from the U.S. Marshals Service flanking her. I mention this in part because Ms. Bridges will be appearing at an event in Sarasota on November 12th. I've heard her speak, and she's well worth hearing. For information on the event, click here.  

And for more on the Norman Rockwell Museum, click here. It's well worth a trip the next time you're in the Berkshires.