Rockwell Thanksgiving: American All The Way

Hey Everyone,

So this week is Thanksgiving week and I’m sure we are all getting ready to cook the turkey and hang out with friends and family. Well, before that happens I thought I would share something with you that might make your Turkey day a little more meaningful.

Check this out.

 For many of us this painting is a classic piece of history and is very sentimental to those of us that grew up when the painting’s creator was around. However, some of us, myself included, may not have been around when this piece of art was still fresh in the minds and hearts of Americans everywhere. In this case, here is a brief history of this artistic jewel that is known by many as the Rockwell Thanksgiving.

Norman Rockwell was a 20th-century painter and illustrator with most of his popular work created in the 1940’ s-1960, as he was a key contributor to The Saturday Evening Post magazine during that time. Many of his illustrations for the magazine are considered a reflection of American culture and his work was greatly remembered for representing everyday life during World War 2.

The painting above is one in a series of four paintings appearing in The Saturday Evening Post in the year 1943. Its name is Freedom from Want, and the series in which it appeared was entitled Four Freedoms, a series Rockwell created from Franklin Roosevelt’s speech that spoke of four essential freedoms.

Today we have things like Instagram to share photos and modern day novelties. But back then, magazines and newspapers were the way new fads and tributes were shared. So this Thanksgiving use Twitter and Facebook and Instagram full blast, but if you have time, Norman Rockwell’s work should be kept in mind as well. Not because of his artistic work, but because of what many of his paintings represented.

Freedom.

Without freedom to share our individual and corporate beliefs and practices, there would be nothing to celebrate with each other during Thanksgiving.

So that’s my thought for this week. Leave comments and let me know if you are familiar with Norman Rockwell’s work.  

Happy Thanksgiving!