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Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg

July 1, 2010 — January 2, 2011

Smithsonian American Art Museum (8th and G Streets, NW)
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Norman Rockwell, Shadow Artist, 1920, oil on canvas, Collection of George Lucas

Telling Stories is the first major exhibition to explore in-depth the connections between Norman Rockwell’s iconic images of American life and the movies. Two of America’s best-known modern filmmakers—George Lucas and Steven Spielberg—recognized a kindred spirit in Rockwell and formed significant collections of his work. Rockwell’s paintings and the films of Lucas and Spielberg evoke love of country, small town values, children growing up, unlikely heroes, acts of imagination and life’s ironies.

Rockwell was a masterful storyteller who could distill a narrative into a single frame. His pictures tell stories about the adventure of growing up, of individuals rising up to face personal challenges, the glamour of Hollywood and the importance of tolerance in American life. He created his pictures with strategies similar to those used by filmmakers.

The exhibition is based on new research into Rockwell, his work and the relationships between the artist and the movies. It showcases fifty-seven major Rockwell paintings and drawings from these private collections. Telling Stories is organized by Virginia M. Mecklenburg, senior curator.

Exhibition Catalogue

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Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg

Norman Rockwell’s pictures tell stories—of children growing up and of couples growing old—that make us laugh with warmhearted recognition. Rockwell was a master humorist with an infallible sense of the dramatic moment. Like a movie director, he determined the pose and facial expression of each character, positioned each prop, and lighted his sets for maximum scenic effect. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg encountered Rockwell’s magazine covers as boys. The painter’s stories, and the ideals they reflect, fascinated these two friends and sometime collaborators and drew them to value, and collect, the work of Norman Rockwell. In this book, Virginia Mecklenburg traces Rockwell’s career using works from the collections of Lucas and Spielberg as guideposts. She also explores Rockwell’s fascination with Hollywood and his elaborate creative process wherein he assumed a role remarkably like that of a film director. In a separate essay, Todd McCarthy describes Rockwell’s cinematic techniques and draws parallels between Rockwell’s subjects and those of Hollywood directors, including Lucas and Spielberg.

Video

Date

    • George Lucas and Steven Spielberg reveal their insights into Rockwell's art and why certain works appealed to them. Telling Stories is the first major exhibition to explore the connections between Norman Rockwell's iconic images of American life and the movies.

    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a grown man talking to a child.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of four children dancing at a party where the boy stepped on the girls toes.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a man creating shadow puppets with children watching.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a toy maker with two children on his lap watching.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of Santa creating a model house with elves.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a lady sitting next to a lamp with her three children sitting by her side.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a man on a typewriter and coming from the page is an image of Daniel Boone.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a boy reading a big book with his imagination of the story behind him.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a boy in a classroom with a diploma and his teacher saying something and putting his hand on the boy's head.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a portrait of Charles Lindbergh with an airplane painted behind him.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a man peeling an apple.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of side image of a boy scout with images of other famous people behind him such as Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of three ladies gossiping while sitting in chairs.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of two men, one of which is a makeup artist putting lipstick on the other which is Gary Cooper.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a woman in a blue dress in front of a vanity with her daughter and dog watching.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a couple in a rumble seat with the woman and her dog smiling and the man scared while holding on to his hat.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a woman that's sick and a man taking care of her with three men watching.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a movie scarlet surrounded by reporters.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a woman sitting on a couch in an attic writing.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of three children playing marbles.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a black boy in torn clothes and no shoes talking to a white boy with two dogs and nicer clothes.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of an inside of a ship where there is one man sleeping, one watching out with a telescope, one man watching out the window, and another steering.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of two men in a blue truck trying to flirt with a pretty lady in a car.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a woman with coats and hats piling up in her arms.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a girl sitting on a couch with two older men looking at her.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a man standing up with others in the crowd watching him.
    Rockwell's charcoal on paper of a little girl on a train looking back at a couple kissing.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a man in a suit checking himself out in the mirror.
    Rockwell's charcoal on paper of two women sitting in a theater reading from a book.
    Rockwell's charcoal and pencil on paper of one car in both directions going and coming.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a boy on a diving board up high peeping off the edge like he is scared.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a grandpa and grandson raking leaves with their dog around.
    Rockwell's charcoal and crayon on paper of a family entering a house with christmas presents.
    Rockwell's oil and pencil on canvas of four boys playing golf.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of woman greeting an orphan boy off of a train.
    Rockwell's charcoal on paper of a father and his father embracing.
    Rockwell's charcoal and pencil on paper of a boy holding his dog in the waiting room at the vet.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a fisherman carrying a crate with a mermaid inside.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a teacher in a classroom in front of her students.
    Rockwell's pencil on paper of a teacher in a classroom in front of her students.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a young girl opening her mouth and her friend viewing her missing tooth with another girl in the background.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a man looking at a calendar with his wife scolding him from behind.
    Rockwell's charcoal on paper of baseball players in a locker room with a man dressed in a suit holding a suitcase.
    Rockwell's charcoal and pencil on paper of a man sitting in front of a sign of himself saying "Elect Casey"
    Rockwell's pencil on paper of an officer and a boy sitting on chairs at an ice cream shop.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a woman sitting down surrounded by men inside a jury room.
    Rockwell's oil on paper of a woman sitting down surrounded by men inside a jury room.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a man washing windows and smiling at a woman interviewing for a job inside the building.
    Rockwell's charcoal and pencil on board of a triple self portrait where it is a drawing of him looking at himself through a mirror and drawing it on a canvas.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas a father teaching his son how to play baseball.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a father and son working at a kitchen table doing homework.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a man standing in front of a painting in a museum.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of JFK's Democratic National Convention in 1964.
    Rockwell's oil on board of a little girl looking down a staircase at a Christmas party of adults.
    Rockwell's pencil on paper of a woman cutting a little girls chair at a salon.
    Rockwell's oil on canvas of a girl sitting at a salon getting her hair cut.
    Rockwell's charcoal on paper of a boy dressed in a baggy Boy Scout uniform.
    A black and white photo of Norman Rockwell smoking a pipe during the 1950s.

    Podcast

    Listen to "Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg” on iTunes U for free. 

    Credits

    Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Booz Allen Hamilton has provided generous support as the corporate sponsor of the exhibition. The museum also gratefully acknowledges the contributions of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

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