The girl in front of the mirror has two images: one is her reflection in the mirror, and the other is the actress on the magazine. The painting struck me because I feel it portrays something universal. All of us have these two images: who we are and who we strive to be.
Early this year, when I was at AAS, a professor showed me and a new friend we met a mural preserved in a Song tomb. The mural is about the daily life of a family, which apparently manufactured medicine for living. "This is like Rockwell's paintings on American lives," they commented. I was at a loss. Who is Rockwell? They then explained to me by showing another painting of him.
This is a rather amusing image of a boy, before receiving the penicillin injection, examines the certificate of the doctor. I encountered this image again in JG's lecture on American history of medicine, from which I learned more about the social context of the image. Despite Rockwell's playful depiction, doctors' authority was rarely challenged in the mid-20th century America, when this painting was produced.
So who is Norman Rockwell? He is one of the most eminent illustrators/artists in the 20th century America. What made him famous is the over-300 cover illustrations that he produced for the Saturday Evening Post magazine from 1910s to 1960s. The popularity of the magazine made millions of Americans familiar with his works. In a sense, Rockwell's works are quintessential American, because they captured the spirit of everyday American lives in the 20th century.
Rockwell spent the last 25 years of his life in Stockbridge, a small town in the western Massachusetts. Hence a museum was built there after he died in the 70s. Out of curiosity, I went there last weekend. Unlike most of the museums I visited before, this one is located in a rural area. On my way there, I was driving through dense forests in a mountainous region. And almost all of a sudden, the museum dashed into my eyes, sitting on a big grassland with mountains in the back. It was beautiful.
The museum is not very big. On one level, it hangs up all reprints of the 323 paintings that Rockwell made for the Post. Going through them is like a quick survey of American history in the 20th century. Many people may not say Rockwell is a true artist, and Rockwell himself admitted this. Most of his works are for commercial use; he worked for deadlines and had to follow the guidelines of those magazines he worked for. For example, his illustrations for the Past are generally uplifting and bright, even during the dark period of the Great Depression. This is because the Post, a conservative magazine, set the style. Similarly, Rockwell's portrayal of American lives after the WWII is positive, with soldiers coming back home and establishing happy families. The reality may not be that simple. The malfunction of the American middle class in the 50s is widespread, though only gradually recognized later. If you want to get a real sense of what this is about, go to see the movies such as "The Hours" and "Revolutionary Road."
But I don't intend to devalue Rockwell's works. If he is not a great artist, he is a great story-teller. The commercial concern made him efficiently produce paintings that can tell stories in a few seconds in order to catch the eyes of his audience. And he did it quite successfully without sacrificing the meticulous details of his artwork. In fact, traditional training made him pay great attention to details. As a result, his works are both arresting and accurate. No small an achievement. Just look back to the painting "Girl at the mirror." Isn't there something beautiful in this painting, something sadly beautiful?
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