Art Around the World
By Zinnia Grayson
Welcome back to another edition of
Art Around the World!Last month, we took a look at some very interesting and wonderful Ancient Egyptian art! We looked at quite a variety of things. However, this month, we'll be going from Egypt to the United States. Instead of looking at a wide range of types of art, we'll be looking into one artist.
This is Norman Rockwell. He was born on February 3rd, 1894 in New York City. He was a painter and illustrator. His work was (and arguably still is) popular in the United States. His work was a reflection of American Culture at the time. This can be seen especially on the covers of
The Saturday Evening Post. He actually illustrated the cover for that magazine for almost five decades! Can you believe it?
This leads me to show you one of his illustrations that has a mistake in it!
This illustration was on one of
The Saturday Evening Post's covers. You see that person with the red sweater? He has two legs that are straight as he is bent over and a third leg that is bent that he is leaning on! Yes, you heard it here. This person has three legs. Rockwell noticed it years after he had illustrated it!
Even though something like that has happened, he is still a great American Artist. Here are a few more of his works.
Rosie the Riveter (on The Saturday Evening Post)
The Problem We All Live With
These two works of art really capture what America was like during these times. As many of you may know, Rosie the Riveter was an icon or symbol to represent American women during World War II. These women worked in factories and shipyards, making war supplies and ammunition. The second painting, The Problem We All Live With, depicts Ruby Bridges being escorted to an all-white school. This occurred during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's. This happened during racial desegregation in the United States.
Lastly, I would like to show you a painting that is from a set of four paintings. This is titled
Freedom of Speechfrom the
Four Freedomsoil paintings. The other three paintings are titled
Freedom of Worship,
Freedom from Want, and
Freedom from Fear. The paintings and freedoms are depicted from President Franklin Roosevelt's Four Freedoms State of the Union address. Rockwell painted these in 1943, and they currently reside in the Norman Rockwell Museum, which is located in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. This town in Massachusetts is where Norman Rockwell passed away in 1978.
Well, I hope you did learn a lot! I think it is amazing how art can represent and remind us of what happened in the past. It really gives you a sense of what the culture was like during that time.
Looking forward to our next encounter,
<Zinnia Grayson