"Hayseed Critic, Post Cover" Lot no. 4865
By Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)
1928
30.25" x 24", Framed 38.25" x 32.25"
Oil on Canvas
Signed Lower Right
SOLD
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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).
The faces depicted here may be familiar to Rockwell enthusiasts. Elizabeth Kelly-Allison modeled for the young artist in this piece, along with other celebrated Post covers, such as Sailor and Girlfriend (The Voyager), 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, and To The Rescue. Campion ran a newsstand in New Rochelle, New York, where Rockwell lived and worked at the time.
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.
Photograph of letter from Norman Rockwell to Elizabeth Kelly-Allison and photographs of models Elizabeth Kelly-Allison and Dave Campion are for reference only. They are not included with artwork purchase.
Explore related art collections: Saturday Evening Post Covers / Magazine Covers / $100,000 & Above / 1920s / Art / Artists / Rural
See all original artwork by Norman Rockwell
ABOUT THE ARTIST
The pictures of Norman Perceval Rockwell (1894-1978) were recognized and enjoyed by almost everybody in America. The cover of The Saturday Evening Post was his showcase for over forty years, giving him an audience larger than that of any other artist in history. Over the years, he depicted there a unique collection of Americana, a series of vignettes of remarkable warmth and humor. In addition, he painted a great number of pictures for story illustrations, advertising campaigns, posters, calendars and books.
As his personal contribution during World War II, Rockwell painted the famous “Four Freedoms” posters, symbolizing for millions the war aims as described by President Franklin Roosevelt. One version of his “Freedom of Speech” painting is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Rockwell left high school to attend classes at the National Academy of Design, and later studied under Thomas Fogarty and George Bridgeman at the Art Students League in New York. His two greatest influences were the completely opposite titans Howard Pyle and J.C Leyendecker.
His early illustrations were done for St. Nicholas magazine and other juvenile publications. He sold his first cover painting to the Post in 1916, and ended up doing over 300 more. Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson sat for him for portraits, and he painted other world figures, including Nassar of Egypt and Nehru of India.
An important museum has been established in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where he maintained his studio. Each year, tens of thousands visit the largest collection of his original paintings extant.