Gary Marshall-StevensNov 14, 2022
Chris đŸŒ±

As I've been studying art, a name that's come up very frequently is Norman Rockwell. I've noticed something in every painting I've seen mentioned in the context of these studies: there are only white people. So I started wondering: did he ever paint black people? What were his opinions on us? Given how often his work is used to evoke "traditional" (AKA white) American culture, I decided to look into it a bit.

I didn't have to dive very deep to end up surprised. It turns out, the publication he originally worked for had a rule that people of color could only be shown in servile roles. When he changed publications (reportedly due to his frustration with this rule, among others) he published a few paintings that covered events in the civil rights movement, such as the murder of three black civil rights movements, Ruby Bridges being escorted to school, and a black family moving into and integrated neighborhood.

I can't find anything with him verbally stating his opinion on the civil rights movement, but based on these paintings, I can't help but think he was an ally.

Nov 14, 2022 at 1:50amWeb
Show threadChris đŸŒ±Nov 14, 2022

In contrast to this, his contemporary Andrew Loomis, of Loomis method fame, has drawn some awful racist caricatures of black people and other races. He also doesn't seem to use non-caricatured black models in any of the educational material he published.

Andrew Loomis's method of drawing the head is one of the foundational methods of drawing the head taught in art schools and online, but I rarely see it used to make a face like mine.

A lot of people write this flaw off as his work simply being a product of his time. But Norman Rockwell establishes that painters of the time could make - and did make - works that showcased and respected people of all shapes and colors.

Show threadChris đŸŒ±Nov 14, 2022
While looking for information on Andrew Loomis's history of drawing people of color and opinions on us, I accidentally ended up on an article on a white supremacist website - which didn't happen for Rockwell, if that says anything.
Show threadRay B.Nov 14, 2022
@brainblasted i noticed this as a (white) art student ~12 years ago, who went to a school who taught from Loomis. Art school has a big, big problem with this in general--i don't even remember getting many models of color to draw from during our life drawing sessions, and this was in Chicago! A big, diverse city! Black and brown models definitely existed, we just rarely saw them! It's really bad.
Show threadTanyaNov 14, 2022
@brainblasted Thanks for sharing. score 1 for rockwell!
Show threadSteve LieberNov 14, 2022

@brainblasted
Yep. Loomis’ books had a fifty year run as the best (or second best*) textbooks available on the principles and techniques of illustration and academic drawing. But it’s telling that despite being more famous today than most of his peers, there’s just not a lot of interest in his paintings or drawings.

(*I’d say it’s a tie with the Famous Artists School books.)

Show threadWoltheraNov 14, 2022

@brainblasted I had to analyze Loomis for my bachelor thesis, and even though the book I was analyzing didn't have anything but white people, this doesn't surprise me. The man was disinterested in other human beings outside of their visual value in advertisement. Even all of the female nudes he drew in that book still had their hair and make-up done and wore heels.

For what it's worth, I didn't see black people show up until books started incorporating photography. So Simblet and Goldfinger.

Show threadjoehumphreyNov 14, 2022
@brainblasted it’s nice to see someone speaking positively about Rockwell. I run in a lot of art circles online and people seem to consider him the worst of the worst, which I’ve never understood. Yes it’s white bread Americana but that doesn’t make it bad. Especially considering what you’re finding here. Thanks for that!
Show threadMark R. StonemanNov 14, 2022
@brainblasted The Ruby Bridges image sticks with me.
Show threadSSFC KDT (MOVED)Nov 14, 2022
@brainblasted A good lesson in not always judging the artist by what he didn't portray. Throughout history, most well known artists have been dependent on patronage, and the bulk of their work will reflect the whims of such patrons.
Show threadChris ColemanNov 14, 2022

@brainblasted

This is a great article from a few years ago on Rockwell’s sudden political awakening in the early ‘60s, with quite a bit in his own words.
https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2020/2/19/21052356/norman-rockwell-the-problem-we-all-live-with-saturday-evening-post

Also, it’s notable that Obama had “The Problem We All Live With” on display in the White House for a time. Here he is meeting with Ruby Bridges.

The Problem We All Live With and the political awakening of Norman Rockwell

For decades, the artist’s Saturday Evening Post covers championed a retrograde view of America. This is the story of the politically turbulent 1960s, a singular painting, and Rockwell’s unlikely change of heart.

Vox