Norman Rockwell exhibit at McKinley Museum tells wartime story of 1940s

CANTON — Rosie the Riveter standing strong amid the backdrop of stars and stripes. A returning soldier met by the outstretched arms of his grandmother. A young boy saluting while playing dress up in the baggy military uniform tailored for a man.

Splashed on the covers of The Saturday Evening Post magazine, Norman Rockwell's images tell the story of World War II on the home front. Vividly, indelibly, timelessly.

These illustrations and about 40 others are showcased in a new exhibit opening Thursday in the Keller Gallery of the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum: "Norman Rockwell in the 1940s: A View of the American Home Front."

They are moments frozen in time when the future of the free world had teetered as the United States and its allies fought against Germany, Japan and Italy.

"We're really excited to be hosting this, and one of the reasons I love Norman Rockwell is his art is very accessible," said Kim Kenney, executive director of the museum. "It's really kind of a slice of America.

"When they package it like this, you can really get a glimpse into what life was like," she said of the original tear sheets on loan from the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

'Rockwell's art is truly where art meets history.'

Hallmark pieces in the exhibit include the Four Freedoms of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and infantryman Willie Gillis.

"Rockwell's art is truly where art meets history," the museum said.

"You don't have to translate it," Kenney said of his work. "Sometimes when you go into a modern art gallery, you're like, 'I'm not sure what I'm looking at,' but that doesn't happen with Rockwell. He knows exactly what he was trying to do, and the message is received clearly."

Kenney was moved by one of the magazine covers in particular.

"There is an image towards the end of the war that shows a soldier coming home, and it's kind of the back of a fire escape in an urban setting," she said. "There's a grandmother and there's a little boy, and they're all just so happy to have him back."

Stephanie Plunkett, deputy director and chief curator of the Norman Rockwell Museum, said the artwork is relatable.

"I think the thing that is so meaningful about Rockwell's work is he captured America's story in a way at that moment from a humanistic point of view," she said. "He was really telling the story of World War II from the view of the people who experienced it at home.

"He thought of himself as a storyteller," Plunkett added.

'He painted people with a lot of dignity.'

Plunkett said the renowned illustrator's work was "featured on magazines, which came right into people's homes, so I feel very much like he was part of the fabric of life."

Rockwell observed people so he could capture their humanity through facial expressions and body language, she said.

"I think he was very interested in human interaction," Plunkett explained. "He painted people with a lot of dignity even though he often used humor, which I think people appreciated. I think he tried to paint in a way (to show) the best in us, and I think people recognized that the paintings were sort of aspirational in terms of having a positive view of humanity."

Rockwell created illustrations for 323 Saturday Evening Post covers between 1916 and 1963.

Paintings could take him up to three weeks to finish, Plunkett explained. Others took longer. He often worked on multiple projects at once.

Ideas began as thumbnail sketches, Plunkett said. Magazine covers began with photo shoots of friends, neighbors and relatives who served as models. Props and costumes were also used.

Large-scale charcoal drawings preceded oil paintings on canvas, she said. Paintings were photographed and reproduced for magazines.

Dark and light colors were used for contrast and impact on newsstands, Plunkett noted. Strong silhouettes also were featured.

World War II artifacts

The exhibition also incorporates World War II-related artifacts from the museum's collection, including a civil defense helmet and armband, WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) and WAC (Women's Army Corps) dolls and a Red Cross uniform.

A living room of the era is recreated with a console radio donated by Jim McVay, a longtime museum member who died in December 2020.

"Mr. McVay remembered listening to war news in front of the radio when he was young, so we have recreated news broadcasts, FDR Fireside Chats and popular music from that era," Kenney said.

Raising awareness of the 'Four Freedoms'

Rockwell's wartime imagery "could be a tool for social good to raise awareness" of the Four Freedoms, Plunkett said.

President Roosevelt championed the freedom of speech, freedom to worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.

Rockwell depicted each of the freedoms from the perspective of his own hometown experiences using everyday, simple scenes such as a town meeting, where a man rose among his neighbors and voiced an unpopular view.

"Probably, (Rockwell's) Four Freedoms paintings are some of the most iconic American paintings," Plunkett said. "In many ways, they established a sense of why America was participating in the war."

The paintings were a phenomenal success, the Norman Rockwell Museum explains on its website.

Following their publication, The Saturday Evening Post received 25,000 requests for reprints.

The Four Freedoms paintings, along with 1,000 original cartoons, paintings by other illustrators and original manuscripts from The Saturday Evening Post, were sent on a national tour in 1943 as part of a campaign to sell war bonds and stamps.

Traveling to 16 cities, the exhibition was visited by more than a million people who collectively purchased $133 million in war bonds and stamps, the Rockwell Museum said. In addition, the Office of War Information printed four million sets of posters of the paintings.

Sharing Rockwell's work is a mission of the Massachusetts museum.

"We have purposefully tried ... to really bring him to places where maybe people would not be able to get to us," Plunkett said. "We want to invite people to experience his images, so we have done a lot of traveling of tear-sheet exhibitions and traveling of major shows of his originals."

Uplifting the American people

Plunkett said Canton's exhibition will capture the buoying spirit of the icon's work.

"Even though he was painting during a very challenging time in history during World War II, he found a way to uplift the American people, and that was his goal, and in our trying times, I feel people, when they see these images, they basically leave a little better than when they came in, because it's such a positive portrayal."

Reach Ed at 330-580-8315 and ebalint@gannett.com

If you go

What: Norman Rockwell exhibit

Where: McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, 800 McKinley Monument Drive NW, Canton.

When: A free opening reception is 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday. The traveling exhibition will be on display through June 11.

Hours: Museum hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Cost: Admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors and $8 for children ages 3 to 18.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Norman Rockwell exhibit comes to McKinley Presidential Museum