Rockwell’s idealistic presentation of family values is expressed in Freedom From Want. The family scene sums up the perfect idealism of the American family in harmony with each other. The painting depicts three generations of a family around a table at Thanksgiving. The father is standing at the head of the table as the mother is about to place a large turkey in front of him.

Embodying nostalgia for an enduring American theme of holiday celebration, this painting is one of the hallmarks of Rockwell’s career.

All of the people in the painting were friends and family of Rockwell in Arlington, Vermont, who were photographed individually and painted into the scene. Rockwell’s wife Mary is in this painting, and the family cook, Mrs. Thaddeus Wheaton is serving the turkey, which the Rockwell family ate that day. The nine adults and two children depicted were photographed in Rockwell’s studio and painted into the scene later.

Why did Norman Rockwell Paint Freedom from Want?

In January 1941, FDR delivered his State of the Union address in which he outlined his idea of the four basic human freedoms, which included:

• freedom of speech
• freedom of worship
• freedom from want.
• and freedom from fear.

To symbolize the Four Freedoms, Rockwell was chosen for his symbolic paintings. Rockwell spent six months painting the Four Freedoms, which were published in a series of Saturday Evening Post issues in 1943. The paintings were a instant success and defined Rockwell’s career. The original art is approximately 45.75 by 35.5 inches, and are now in the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Freedom from Want is considered one of Rockwell’s finest works. As one of the four paintings in the Four Freedoms, it is the one most often seen in art books with critical review and commentary. Although all were intended to promote patriotism in a time of war, Freedom from Want became a symbol of “family togetherness, peace, and plenty”, according to Linda Rosenkrantz, who compares it to “a ‘Hallmark’ Christmas”.

Norman Rockwell – A Quick Rundown

He was born in New York City on February 3, 1894 and died November 8, 1978. He is known to be talented at a young age, and he received his first commission at age 17!

Norman Rockwell illustrated American life for over 47 years at The Saturday Evening Post. He produced more than 4,000 original works in his lifetime. Most of his works are either in public collections, or have been destroyed in fire or other misfortunes.

Source: Wikipedia

The post Freedom from Want – Considered Norman Rockwell’s Finest Works appeared first on Art and Design Inspiration.

Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882-May 15, 1967) was a prominent American realist painter and printmaker; his style conforms to the movements of Modernism and Social realism. Hopper’s work is divided between lonely landscape visages and illustrations of subjects in isolation. Essentially, Hopper captures the ambiance of his subject’s mood through the arrangement of the color scheme. Hopper’s rise to eminence as a figurehead in American modern art will be gleaned in connection to his trademark aesthetic.

The art movement of social realism burgeoned in the 1930s amid the Great Depression and correlated with Hopper’s artistic affluence. At the turn of the twentieth century, Hopper began his career as an illustrator by enrolling in New York School of Art and Design. His mentors included Robert Henri and William Merritt Chase who were the important figures of the Ashcan school- an art movement that strived to convey city life in New York’s poorer regions. Norman Rockwell was among the famous artists involved in the Ashcan school. Hopper’s time spent in art school proved seminal, as he sought to translate the standards of the Ashcan school in a different light. Instead of following the paradigm of his peers and Mentors who detailed crowded and bustling spaces, Hopper shifted the focus of social realism into encapsulating the loneliness of living in the city.

Automat: The Looming Atmosphere of the City

For a short spell, Hopper sought employment as an illustrator after he finished his career in school. Hopper spent several years venturing across Europe and studying the tradition of French realist artists, such as Édouard Manet. Hopper was inspired by the French realists to lend his powers of observation towards evincing the lackluster isolation that lurks in the backdrop of incessant bright lights and city noise.

His famous works- such as ‘Automat’ (1927) and ‘Office in a Small City’ (1953) – channels the collective distress of capitalist modernity. Hopper fashions the exterior spaces in these portraits to signify the subject’s interiority. In Automat, the starkly green background silhouettes the female subject who forlornly studies the content of her beverage. A murkiness shades both the city street in the environment behind the café and the woman’s clothing, which associates the looming atmosphere of the city with her despondency.

Office in a Small City: Reality Over-saturated with Artificiality and Confinement

The alienation of post-world war two American business is translated in ‘Office in a Small City.’ Hopper portrays a minimalist visage of a man seated in his office while absent mindedly observing at the city skyline. A sense of drab unmitigated confinement materializes from the man’s vacant response to performing everyday business tasks. The everyman’s claustrophobic boredom in this picture alludes to a pallid cost of perusing the American dream, which is the insipid routine of modern life. Hopper conveys the effects of a reality oversaturated with artificiality and confinement. A concern for the question of what constitutes an examined life in midst of monotony persists in the body of Hopper’s work. Hopper’s eminence as a prominent voice in the Age of Anxiety– see Munch’s ‘The Scream’– is attributed with conveying the mental rigors, or lack thereof, during capitalist modernity.

Nighthawks – One of the Most Recognized Paintings in American Art

Nighthawks painted in 1942 in New York City (and sold within months for $3,000), expresses lonely moments in time. The empty and flat composition expresses the following:
Coldness – the time of day – late at night, cool dark shadows, empty streets, lifeless.
Disconnected – the unsmiling interaction between the bartender, woman and man seemingly avoiding eye contact as a protection of personal space.
Man in a dark suit also disconnected with his back to the large window illuminating the dark and deserted urban streetcape.

The characters living in their own reality in the same space, yet apart. The painting invites a narrative interpretation. If you are reading this, what is your narrative on the painting?

Other favorite works:

The post Edward Hopper’s Portrayals of Alienation appeared first on Art and Design Inspiration.

Bob Ross paintings have been discovered in a Warehouse in Virginia!

Did you know that Bob Ross painted over 30,000 paintings in his lifetime? However, if you want to buy a Bob Ross (authentic) painting, you can’t. A lot of people have tried. And many of these original paintings have been safely tucked away in boxes, unknown to most.

So many paintings inspired by Bob Ross – however no originals to be purchased are found.

An adventure by Aaron Byrd trying to buy an original Bob Ross painting led to a discovery. He tired auctions, galleries and online searches to no avail.

His quest led him on a road trip to the company headquarters in Herndon, Virginia. Almost every painting created by Bob Ross are numerically stacked in cardboard boxes; over 1,000 landscapes, snow-capped peaks and happy little trees, all in a warehouse.

At this time none of Bob Ross paintings are for sale.

The video below tells the entire story.

Did you know Bob completed each painting 3 times? One before the show, one during the show and one after.

The Joy of Painting

Bob told the Orlando Sentinel in 1990: “The majority of our audience does not paint, has no desire to paint, will never paint.” Instead, the show’s appeal is more abstract. It’s less about the art lesson, and more about the mood: cozy, nurturing — an audio-visual pat on the back, coaxing the audience to try something new. For 22 minutes, at least, there’s no fear of failure. As Ross used to say, “We don’t make mistakes, we just have happy accidents.”

Everyone can paint!

According to Bob Ross.

All you need is a dream in your heart, and a little practice.

The post A happy little mystery. Where are the original Bob Ross paintings? appeared first on Art and Design Inspiration.

In 1884, he showed what is probably his best-known picture, Madame X (the size of the painting enormous measuring 82 inches by 43 inches or nearly 7 feet tall). He was disagreeably surprised when it caused a scandal as a result of its sexual suggestiveness of her pose and the pail pasty color of her skin. Sargent was known to be outlandish and it is said that after meeting her socially, he become obsessed by her. He let it be known that he wanted to do “homage to her beauty” in a portrait.

He did one line drawing after another of her head in profile, made studies in pencil and watercolor of her relaxing on a settee in a low-cut evening dress, painted her in oil drinking a toast, and numerous profiles and studies.

Upon the unveiling of the painting and discouragement of her reception, he moved permanently to London. His work was too avant-garde to appeal immediately to English taste so he moved on and the turning point for Sargent’s career in England came when he showed his Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose (painted 1885-86) at the London Royal Academy.

The piece, undeniably one of Sargent’s masterpieces, incorporated Victorian themes and a calculated impressionist influence that depicted two girls lighting lanterns among flowers in spring. However there is much more going on in the painting then meets the eye. We will examine this at a another time!

Though he enjoyed the early recognition as a portrait painter in oils for a long period of time, he grew tired of the demands and never ending list of commissions. His painting changed focus for a more personal exploration and he began work in watercolors and landscapes.

His watercolors and style of work was on the brink of modernism and unconventional for the time. Disregarding contemporary standards, his watercolors were bold with loosely defined forms and vantage points. His watercolor work was also highly praised and he managed to make a name for himself as a watercolorist in addition to a painter.

Sargent passed away in his sleep on April 15, 1925 at the age of 69. He left behind a large body of work, including portraits, travel scenes, watercolors and impressionistic masterpieces that have defined his reputation into the current century; his works are still exhibited around the world.

I do not judge, I only chronicle.
-John Singer Sargent

The post John Singer Sargent – From Scandalous Madame X to a Tent in the Rockies appeared first on Art and Design Inspiration.

Thomas Nast first drew Santa Claus for the 1862 Christmas season Harper’s Weekly cover and center-fold illustration to memorialize the family sacrifices of the Union during the early and, for the north, darkest days of the Civil War. His use of Santa Claus was melancholy, sad for the faltering Union war effort in which Nast so fervently believed, and sad for the separation of soldiers and families. Between 1863 and 1886 he drew 33 Christmas drawings for Harper’s and Santa Clause was referenced in 32 of those drawings.

Before Thomas Nast’s popular version of Santa Claus, the legend can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas.

The Ancient Santa Claus – Travels the Countryside Helping the Poor and Sick

It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. Much admired for his piety and kindness, St. Nicholas became the subject of many legends. It is said that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick. One of the best known of the St. Nicholas stories is that he saved three poor sisters from being sold into slavery or prostitution by their father by providing them with a dowry so that they could be married.

The painting above is known to be one of the first paintings of “Santa Claus” which was created in 1294 by Russian artist Aleksa Petrov.

The Coca Cola Santa Claus – Coke is the real thing!

Haddon Hubbard “Sunny” Sundblom (June 22, 1899 – March 10, 1976) was a Finnish illustrator and American artist best known for the images of Santa Claus he created for The Coca-Cola Company. Sundblom is best remembered for his advertising work, specifically the Santa Claus advertisements he painted for The Coca-Cola Company in the 1930s.

Sundblom’s Claus firmly established the larger-than-life, grandfatherly Claus as a key figure in American Christmas imagery.

A Drum For Tommy

Almost every year Rockwell painted at least one Santa Claus painting.

A Drum for Tommy, also called Santa with Drum, completed in 1921 is also the only Rockwell Santa to appear on the pages of The Country Gentleman.

The post The Legend Of Santa Claus Popularized by Thomas Nast appeared first on Art and Design Inspiration.

Ann Turner Cook (born November 20, 1926 – Died June 3rd, 2022)

The iconic Gerber baby illustration has been a familiar brand seen throughout the world. The face for the trusted baby food, propelled the Gerber brand forward.

However, not much has been shown on the actual artist/illustrator who was inspired to create the sketch of original Gerber Baby, Ann Taylor Cook. Keep reading to learn about Dorothy Hope Smith.

Ann Taylor Cook: Then and now, 4 months to age 95.

In 1927 when she was about 4 months old, her image was sketched in charcoal by their neighbor and friend artist Dorothy Hope Smith. Dorothy submitted a preliminary charcoal sketch to a Gerber baby contest. The sketch was created from a snapshot of Ann Turner. Dorothy’s unfinished submission was intended more as an inquiry as to what the age of the baby should be and what the ad size would be. Dorothy intended to finish the sketch if accepted. The judges loved it. They preferred the simplicity of the illustration compared to more elaborate entries.

Dorothy won $300 in the contest, selling the rights of her drawing to Gerber.

The drawing wasn’t intended to become the brand ‘face’ for Gerber. It was actually for a marketing campaign, however the public loved it so much that they even wanted to purchase copies of the sketch. Gerber was on to something big and the sketch of Ann Cook by Dorothy Hope Smith became a trademark.

Who was Dorothy Hope Smith?

Although today many may not know her name, her creation is household knowledge.
Dorothy was born October 1st in 1895 and died in 1955 at age 60. She studied illustration at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She was a talented commercial illustrator specializing in babies and children. She was one of the “Ivory Soap Baby” illustrators for Procter & Gamble, illustrating children’s books for Putnam and several magazine covers. She married and her husband was also an Illustrator.

Her work represents an era of when advertising was mainly illustration based. She was also one of the few women Illustrators in a time when the industry was dominated by males.

Today you can find copies of the Gerber Baby prints (the same ones that were sold years ago) at auctions.

The post The Gerber Baby and the Illustrator Who Made her Famous appeared first on Art and Design Inspiration.

Growing up Theodor had a grand imagination and was a curious observer of the places and experiences around him. Many of these places can be seen in his illustrations. For instance Drawings of Horton the Elephant meandering along streams in the Jungle of Nool,  mirror the watercourses in Springfield’s Forest Park from the period.

Later enrolled as an English major, his Father hoped he would become a college professor, however ‘Ted’ had other ideas. It was in college that he discovered his love of designing books with pictures and words, combined with his quirky humor. Ted began to pursue a career as cartoonist after he left Dartmouth College.

Lucky Break and Exposure in The Saturday Evening Post

The Saturday Evening Post and other publications published some of his Ted’s pieces. His first cartoon appeared in the magazine in 1927 and was purchased for twenty-five dollars. This was the lucky break and encouragement he needed along with the early exposure of his work that opened doors that launched his career.

Much of Ted’s activity during his early career was devoted to creating advertising campaigns for Standard Oil, which he did for more than 15 years. One of the most popular was a Judge cartoon in which Ted used Flit bug spray in the punch line that led to a seventeen-year Flit advertising campaign. Ted’s catchphrase “Quick, Henry, the Flit!” was a popular phrase and Flit sales increased wildly. “Flit,” was a popular bug spray of the day – especially against flies and mosquitoes. It was one of many Standard Oil Company of New Jersey consumer products derived from petroleum.

From Bugs to Books – Persistence, Rejection & Lucky 28

Ted got his first real break into Children’s literature And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, published, however, required a great degree of persistence – it was rejected 27 times before being published by Vanguard Press!

Ever determined, Ted moved forward and captured the biggest defining moment in his career which was The Cat in the Hat. This was the beginning of a stream of the most loved books throughout the world. Ted had written and illustrated 44 children’s books, including such all-time favorites as Green Eggs and Ham, Oh, the Places You’ll Go, Fox in Socks, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. His books had been translated into more than 15 languages. Over 200 million copies had found their way into homes and hearts around the world.

Why Dr. Seuss?

Besides the fact that his father had wished that he would have got a doctorate, Ted wasn’t a doctor. He used his Mother’s maiden name “doctor.” And besides it gave him an extra layer of credibility to his work.

Humor Aside – The Serious Work of Dr. Seuss

The secret collection The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss shows a side of the artist that most readers, familiar with him through his classic children’s books, have never seen. These “Midnight Paintings,” along with significant drawings and sculpture, were often created by Dr. Seuss at night for his own personal enjoyment and were rarely, if ever, exhibited during his lifetime. More on this collection can be found here.

Oh the places you’ll go – And 87 is never too old!

It’s never too late for an artist, illustrator and writer! Just look at Ted.

Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, was published in 1990 when Dr. Seuss was 87. This clever book is packed full of meaning, wisdom and encouragement.

Dr Seuss died one year later on September 24th, 1991.

Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!

The post Oh, The Places You’ll Go – From Brew, Bugs, Books and More appeared first on Art and Design Inspiration.

Born June 6, 1756 John Trumbull was an American artist of the early independence period.  Trumbull’s greatest achievement was receiving a commission from the US government to paint 4 gigantic murals in the US Capitol after its destruction during the War of 1812. President James Madison personally picked out the paintings, which were Trumbull’s The Declaration of Independence, The Surrender of General Burgoyne, The Resignation of Washington and The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis. It took Trumbull 8 years to finish the paintings. When it was all said and done it was not a great success in the eyes of many who were critical of his work.

The Declaration of Independence

The goal of the The Declaration of Independence painting was to preserve the exact likenesses of those extraordinary individuals—aristocrats, lawyers, doctors, farmers, shopkeepers—who had put their lives and fortunes on the line. Trumbull worked on the Declaration for more than three decades, hoping to include all fifty-six figures, but he was unable to obtain all the likenesses. Of the forty-eight portraits here, thirty-six were taken from life; others were copied from an existing portrait or taken of a son as a substitute.

In the event of The Declaration of Independence, the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain.

Surrender of General Burgoyne

Painted in 1826, the scene shown in this painting is the surrender of British General John Burgoyne at Saratoga, New York on October 17, 1777.

Surrender of Lord Cornwallis

The subject of this painting is the surrender of the British army at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, which ended the last major campaign of the Revolutionary War.

General George Washington Resigning His Commission

This painting depicts the scene on December 23, 1783, in the Maryland State House in Annapolis when George Washington resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. The action was significant for establishing civilian authority over the military, a fundamental principle of American democracy.

What do these paintings mean – and why are they important?

The paintings express and document the break from Britain and its King to claim the power of an independent country.
In the early 1770s, more and more colonists became convinced that Parliament intended to take away their freedom. In fact, the Americans saw a pattern of increasing oppression and corruption happening all around the world. Parliament was determined to bring its unruly American subjects to heel. Britain began to prepare for war in early 1775. The first fighting broke out in April in Massachusetts. In August, the King declared the colonists “in a state of open and avowed rebellion.” For the first time, many colonists began to seriously consider cutting ties with Britain. The publication of Thomas Paine’s stirring pamphlet Common Sense in early 1776 lit a fire under this previously unthinkable idea.

The Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. To read the entire document, click here.

To this day, United States celebrates the 4th of July. The tradition of setting off fireworks on July 4th began in Philadelphia in 1777, the first organized annual celebration of Independence Day while Congress was still occupied with the ongoing war. The Ships’ cannon fired a 13-gun salute in honor of the 13 colonies.

As Thomas Jefferson once said: “My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!”

The post Iconic Paintings in America’s Quest for Freedom appeared first on Art and Design Inspiration.

Winslow Homer was born February 24th, 1836 in Boston, MA. He is regarded as one of the greatest American painters of the 19th century and created 145 artworks. He produced a broad range of work in illustration, oil painting and watercolor. Many of his artworks were from places he visited. From the Civil War battlefields where he documented the war to the desolate coast of Portland Maine.

One of his most nostalgic oil paintings, Snap the Whip, was created in 1872. The portrait depicts the simplicity of rural life as a group of children play crack the whip in front of a red schoolhouse. Homer spent summers in New York’s Hudson Valley and was inspired to paint this scene by local boys playing.

The work that defined his style was not undertaken until his middle age – after the age of forty-five when he settled into a solitary life in his coastal home and studio in Prouts Neck Maine.

His artwork depicted marine scenes, the rugged coastline and tumultuous sea which was inspired by the setting in which he spent the rest of his life.

In 1910, Homer died at the age of 74 in his Prouts Neck studio. His Shooting the Rapids, Saguenay River remains unfinished, however sheds insight on his painting process.

“Look at nature, work independently, and solve your own problems.”
– Winslow Homer

Sources:
mainepreservation.org
Wikipedia.com

The post Homer – Master Artist of Depicting Heroic Struggle appeared first on Art and Design Inspiration.

Anything but primitive, VB’s paintings often evoked a complex history, depicting events seemingly taken from some unknown alien cosmogony.  His paintings often included elements of deep space, land, and water, and were said to “stimulate the imagination.”  The majority of his imaginative paintings were created from 1954 to 1963, during a period in which he worked at a bakery and lived in a small house with his wife.  Referred to as “Gene” by his wife and friends, VB created his earliest paintings on box panels brought home from the bakery.

Thought of as a “weird character” by neighbors, VB considered himself a talented artist; many of his works were created in his back yard in a few hours, working on summer nights under the illumination of floodlights.

Gene initially crafted his paintings on canvas using a brush; by 1954, he changed his technique and began using his fingers to paint on board.  Later, he would paint the boards with a light-colored undercoat, create a painting, then scrape the finished painting with quills, combs, and even tools from the bakery to reveal the cream or white undercoating.  Gene’s works of arts continued to get what was described as more intense and using brilliant colors for about five years, when his health and his energy began to decline.

VB’s works reveal more than anything else his extraordinary imagination and energy.  Many museum collections include some of his art including the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art in Chicago, and the American Folk Art Museum in New York.  He died from congestive heart failure in 1983 at the age of 72.  Upon his death, his small home was packed from floor to ceiling with the 1,080 paintings he created during his lifetime.

The post American ‘Outsider Artist’ Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, Wisconsin Native appeared first on Art and Design Inspiration.