"Study for 'Willie Gillis in Convoy'" Lot no. 4888
By Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)
1943
Image 42" x 33", Framed 54" x 45"
Charcoal on paper laid down on board
Signed and inscribed lower right: to / Mr. Bogut / sincerely / Norman / Roc
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Study for an unrealized cover of The Saturday Evening Post
The first Saturday Evening Post cover featuring Norman Rockwell’s fictional soldier, Willie Gillis, appeared on October 4, 1941. During the following five years, Rockwell created eleven Post covers chronicling Gillis’s experiences as a young serviceman during the Second World War. Reflecting on the series, Rockwell explained, “I had conceived of the idea of a series of Post covers depicting the army experiences of a young civilian... sort of an innocent fellow who suddenly found himself caught up in a completely strange life” (My Adventures as an Illustrator, New York, 1994, pp. 326–27).
To bring Willie Gillis to life, Rockwell selected Robert Otis Buck, a young man from Arlington, Vermont, whom he had noticed at a local square dance. Buck’s youthful, innocent appearance perfectly matched Rockwell’s vision for the character. Since Buck had been exempted from military service, he remained available throughout the production of the series, allowing Rockwell to use him consistently as his model. The character’s name was coined by Rockwell’s wife, Mary, who drew inspiration from a children’s book featuring a character named Wee Gillis.
As with much of his work, Rockwell used Willie Gillis to present a reassuring and optimistic vision of American life, even against the backdrop of global conflict. Rather than portraying the violence of war directly, he focused on the everyday experiences of ordinary people affected by it. Reflecting on his wartime illustrations, Rockwell remarked, “Most of the pictures I did during the war took their subjects from the civilian wartime scene—the armchair general, women war workers, the ration boards. That was what I knew about and what I painted best” (p. 328).
Although Willie Gillis in Convoy depicts military service more directly than many other paintings in the series, it still avoids explicit scenes of combat, instead emphasizing the routine realities of a soldier’s life. In the painting, Gillis rides in the back of a transport truck alongside several fellow servicemen. Rockwell’s meticulous attention to naturalistic detail enriches the narrative: swirling dust and leaves in the foreground suggest the truck is moving, while the relaxed postures of the soldiers imply they have been traveling for some time. Some men rest or eat, while others stare thoughtfully into the distance. In contrast, Gillis remains alert, wearing his lucky rabbit’s foot and smoking a pipe, his wide-eyed expression and rigid posture conveying youthful determination and readiness for whatever lies ahead.
LITERATURE:
L.N. Moffatt, Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, Vol. II, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1986, p. 1107, no. M48, illustrated.
Framed under glass
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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.