We are thrilled to announce the acquisition of two new masterful Post covers by Norman Rockwell, Hayseed Critic and Sailor and Girlfriend (The Voyager). From 1916 to 1963, Rockwell contributed 321 unique covers to The Saturday Evening Post, one of the country’s most popular and widely circulated publications. It is through his relationship with the Post, a publication he once called the “greatest shop window in America,” that Rockwell earned his reputation as America’s preeminent illustrator.

 

Read more about these paintings below, and if you’d like to view Hayseed Critic in person, be sure to visit our booth at The American Art Fair taking place at Bohemian National Hall in New York City from May 16th through the 19th. Along with Hayseed Critic, we’ll have additional works by Norman Rockwell, J.C. Leyendecker, Maxfield Parrish, Sarah S. Stilwell Weber, John Clymer, and more. Please let us know if you plan to attend and if there are any particular artworks you would like us to bring for a special viewing. Admission is complimentary.

 

View our entire selection of available works by Norman Rockwell here, or our collection of original cover illustrations by other artists for The Saturday Evening Post here.

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Hayseed Critic

 

 

First published on the July 21, 1928 cover of The Saturday Evening Post, Norman Rockwell’s Hayseed Critic showcases the artist’s signature warmth and wit. The humorous scene features a young, focused plein-air painter in a green smock and beret, completely absorbed in painting the small landscape in the pochade box she holds on her lap. Leaning forward in concentration, she ignores the curious older country local closely scrutinizing her work. The straw-hatted onlooker leans over her with an intense and unselfconscious focus, casually holding a piece of hay in his mouth.

 

 

Beyond its narrative charm, Hayseed Critic is significant as being among one of Rockwell’s earliest covers for The Saturday Evening Post to directly address the subject of art itself. This exploration of the dynamic between artwork and viewer is a theme Rockwell would later revisit in iconic illustrations including The Art Critic (1955) and The Connoisseur (1962).

 

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Sailor and Girlfriend (The Voyager)

 

 

First published on the cover of the November 8, 1930, issue of The Saturday Evening Post, Norman Rockwell’s Sailor and Girlfriend (The Voyager) is a masterful example of the fantasy and period illustrations he produced during the Great Depression.

 

The composition centers on a young woman listening to a sailor spinning tales of his adventures on the high seas. Framed against a backdrop of docked sailing ships, the sailor exudes a relaxed, worldly confidence as he leans casually against the back of the stone bench, turning toward his companion. He gestures toward the horizon with one hand as he holds a pipe in the other, a green parrot perched on his arm.

 

 

In contrast to the sailor’s ease, the young woman’s posture is rigid and her expression enigmatic. Wearing a delicate, ribbon-accented pink dress and matching bonnet, she sits perfectly upright clutching a small book in her lap. Her distant stare implies a psychological distance between the two figures despite their physical proximity. Rather than listening with fascination, she appears mildly irritated, or at the very least, uncertain as to how far she should trust his intentions. Perhaps she is wary of growing too close, knowing the packed bundle at his feet means he will soon return to the open seas. The Voyager stands as an example of Rockwell’s ability to weave complex psychological dynamics into a single image.

 

 

Published almost exactly one year after the devastating stock market crash of October 1929, this painting marked the first of three consecutive “period” covers for the artist. Rockwell likely sensed that the public would welcome a distraction or escape from the harsh realities of contemporary life. Following The Voyager, Rockwell’s next cover in 1930 was Christmas: Knight Looking Through Window, the original of which is in our collection, followed by Dressmaker.

 

 

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Christmas: Knight Looking Through Window

 

 

Christmas: Knight Looking Through Window depicts a knight on guard duty, gazing longingly in on a festive holiday celebration. While warm light bathes the joyous revelers inside, the knight braces himself against the bitter cold, his hands clasped tightly against his body as his cloak billows in the wind. To emphasize the contrast between the figures, Rockwell renders the knight and the snow-dusted window in a cool, icy color palette, quickly and effectively communicating the narrative to the viewer.

 

 

Browse all available artwork by Norman Rockwell here

 

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Rockwell’s Models:
Elizabeth Kelly-Allison and Dave Campion

 

 

The faces in our two newly acquired paintings may be familiar to Rockwell enthusiasts. Elizabeth Kelly-Allison modeled for the young artist pictured in Hayseed Critic and the woman in Sailor and Girlfriend (The Voyager), along with other celebrated Post covers, such as Wet Paint, She’s My Baby, The Hikers, and more.

 

 

Dave Campion modeled for the man in the Hayseed Critic, as well as other beloved Post covers, including Excuse My Dust, Threading the Needle, To The Rescue, and others. Campion ran a newsstand in New Rochelle, New York, where Rockwell lived and worked at the time.