download the 2008-2009 annual report - Norman Rockwell Museum

exhibitions continuedAtlanta, the exhibition featured selected posters from the collection of Thomas andEdward Pulling, grandson and great-grandson of the Honorable R.C. Leffingwell,Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and head of the War Loan Organization.The Museum’s 40th anniversary provided an appropriatebackdrop for closer consideration ofthe artist’s studio as integral to the creative process.The first historical reinstallation of NormanRockwell’s Stockbridge studio, A Day in the Life,brings visitors back to October 1960, when he washard at work on one of his most famous SaturdayEvening Post covers, Golden Rule. Recently digitized,an extensive archive of photographic negativesmade the exact recreation of a moment in timein Rockwell’s studio possible, right down to thearrangement of the artist’s palette, paint tubes,props, and inspirations. Indicative of the artist’spersonal philosophy, Golden Rule was a precursorto the socially conscious subjects that he was yetto undertake.In conjunction with the studio reinstallation, Conserving Norman Rockwell’sUnited Nations, an intimate but significant exhibition, explored the intricaciesof art conservation, from initial evaluation to complete restoration. A step-bystepinvestigation of the Williamstown Art Conservation Center’s methods ofconserving Norman Rockwell’s United Nations drawing, a large-scale symbolicportrayal of the United Nations and the peoples of the world, offered insightsinto a rarely seen but essential preservation process. Video documentation of theconservation process inspired much interest in the galleries.Two complementary exhibitions offeredadditional insights into the theme. TheArtist’s Studios provided an engaging lookat some of Norman Rockwell’s 20 studios,featuring archival images of Rockwell’sworkspaces in New Rochelle, Arlington,and Stockbridge, as well as a selectionof artworks created within them. Inaddition, Artists in Their Studios offereda unique glimpse of the lives and studiospaces of more than 75 noted Americanartists from the late 19th century to thepresent. Photographs and primary sourcematerials including letters, artists’ handwritten notes, and personal effects fromthe Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art were featured in this compellingexhibition, which offered an intimate perspective on artists at work, at home andabroad. Photographs of Alexander Calder, William Merritt Chase, Chuck Close,Ellsworth Kelly, Willem de Kooning, Richard Diebenkorn, Marcel Duchamp,Helen Frankenthaler, Reginald Marsh, Louise Nevelson, Jackson Pollock, RobertRauschenberg, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, John Singer Sargent, John Sloane, AndyWarhol, N.C. Wyeth, and others were on view.The Museum’s broadened collecting mission, which places Norman Rockwellwithin the context of his evolving profession through the acquisition of originalillustration art, inspired Recent Acquisitions: Norman Rockwell and the Art ofIllustration. This intimate exhibition offered fresh perspectives on recentlyacquired works by Norman Rockwell and other accomplished illustrators fromthe permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum. Rockwell’s She’s My Baby,a 1927 cover painting for the Saturday Evening Post, and The Old Flirt, a 1962 drawingof the artist’s Stockbridge physician were on view, along with paintings anddrawings by such masters of American illustration as Thomas Fogarty, JamesMontgomery Flagg, Rolf Armstrong, Worth Brehm, George Harding, Orson ByronLowell, Frank C. Bensing, and others.Lively community-based exhibitionsshowcased the artistry of regional artiststhis year. These included In FullBloom: Artists Design Garden Gates,a resplendent plein air exhibitioncelebrating the wonders of art andnature. Artists designed and installedunique garden gates on NormanRockwell Museum’s bucolic 36-acresite—offering inspired entryways tothe imagination. The 23rd AnnualBerkshire County High School ArtShow featured a diverse installationof original works by Berkshire Countyhigh school art students, celebratingthe region’s talented youth.Additionally, a special off-site exhibition of particular interest to the Stockbridgecommunity was installed at the Stockbridge Town Hall in January 2009. TheStockbridge Models Project, a lively installation of Rockwell’s photographic referencesfrom the Museum’s collection, celebrates the participation of many local individualswho posed for Rockwell’s widely published images.12 13