Norman Rockwell's paintings are often described as sentimental because they portray a small-town America that probably never was. They were used as cover art for the Saturday Evening Post, but now they are sold at auction for large sums. A trio of those paintings sold at Sotheby’s American Art auction on Wednesday morning for a total of more than $57 million. Apparently sentimentality pays!
Rockwell's "Saying Grace" appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post on Nov. 24, 1951 and the final price for this work, considered Rockwell’s masterpiece, was $46 million, after nine and a half minutes of spirited bidding. The artist was paid $3,500 for the painting — about $30,500 when adjusted for inflation.
You may know the painting. It depicts a crowded restaurant with a boy and an old woman bowing their heads in prayer. Judging from the expressions of the curious onlookers even in the fifties saying grace in a public place was unusual behavior.
You may know the painting. It depicts a crowded restaurant with a boy and an old woman bowing their heads in prayer. Judging from the expressions of the curious onlookers even in the fifties saying grace in a public place was unusual behavior.
Another favourite, “The Gossips,” (below) a montage that includes Rockwell’s friends, neighbours and even the artist himself, painted in 1948, sold for $8.45 million. Apparently when the Post cover ran on March 6, 1948, the magazine was flooded with inquiries from readers wanting to know what the heads were gossiping about.
The third major painting in the sale, “Walking to Church,” which appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post in 1953, brought just over three million.
I'm sure that both saying a blessing over a meal and seeking out a place of worship on Sunday mornings are considered anachronisms by the majority of North Americans today. How our culture has changed in a little more than half a century. Of course gossip is enduring, which might be the major indictment of the way we live.
What are your thoughts about these paintings? Do you still say a blessing over a meal? Would you do so in a public place? Do any of you walk to church? How about gossip?
I'm sure that both saying a blessing over a meal and seeking out a place of worship on Sunday mornings are considered anachronisms by the majority of North Americans today. How our culture has changed in a little more than half a century. Of course gossip is enduring, which might be the major indictment of the way we live.
What are your thoughts about these paintings? Do you still say a blessing over a meal? Would you do so in a public place? Do any of you walk to church? How about gossip?
If I were to start walking to Church, it would take me three hours!
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