Spring 1998 - Norman Rockwell Museum

7Changes and Challenges:Rockwell in the 1930sMaureen Hart Hennessey, CuratorPeople ReadingStock Exchange(The CommonTouch), oil oncanvas, SaturdayEvening Post,January 18, 1930,cover.THE 1930S WERE A TIMEof crisis and uncertaintyin America. The collapseof the u.s. Stock Exchange onOctober 28, 1929 created aworld economic crisis thatreverberated through most ofthe coming decade. Tensions inEurope would explode into warby September 1939. In the U.S.,economic burdens were worsenedby a series of naturaldisasters, including theJohnstown flood, the Hurricanemoving tribute to the bombingof that town during the SpanishCivil War or The Grapes ofWrath (1939) John Steinbeck'sportrayal of the effect of thedrought on farm workers. Forothers, the chaos of an erainspires the individual to lift thehuman spirit by providing anescape from the harsh realities ofdaily life and to reinforce faith ina world that, at the moment,seems uncertain. Many Americanmovies from the 1930s, fromcrises seem to have had verylittle direct impact on either theillustrator or his work.Rockwell's dilemmas were morepersonal and professional. Thebeginning of the decade foundRockwell ending a marriage,living alone in New York Cityand questioning his future in thefield of illustration. By 1940,Rockwell was remarried and afather, living in a small NewEngland town and about toembark upon the period of hist '" c.3g>~:ga.~@:c.!1>~~ __ ~ __ ~ __________________ ~8..§()~~Paris Bridge (LePont Neuj), penciland water coloron paper,European travelsketch, 1932.of 1938, and, most importantly,the drought that turned thefertile plains into a huge dustbowl.It is interesting to note thattimes of great difficulty are oftenthe periods of great creativity.Sometimes, a writer, artist,composer or film makerresponds directly to the crisis,such as Guernica (1937) Picasso'sBusby Berkeley musicals toFrank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes toTown took viewers away from itall for a few brief hours. Americanmagazines also providedentertainment in the form ofcartoons, short stories and, ofcourse, illustrations.For Norman Rockwell, the1930s were a time of change anduncertainty. Yet, the world'sgreatest achievement andpopularity as an illustrator.In the summer of 1929,Norman Rockwell went toEurope with three couples.Irene, his wife of 13 years, stayedat home in New Rochelle.During the 1920s, the Rockwellswere part of the New Rochellesociety and country-club scene,although Norman said in his