The Illustrated Gallery Paintings

Signed by Artist Lower Right Maxwell House Coffee Illustration Few artists have ever pulled on our nation's heartstrings, particularly in reference to family and generations, as adeptly as Norman Rockwell. From his earliest advertisements to his patriotic World War II subjects, Rockwell's virtuoso was in his ability to capture the essence of American culture and a view of a more innocent time in our country's history. Rockwell states: "I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed. And perhaps, therefore, this is one function of the illustrator. He can show what has become so familiar that it is no longer noticed. The illustrator thus becomes a chronicler of his time." (as quoted in Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1986, p. xii) Recognizing the need for reminiscence from young and old alike, Rockwell effectively captures a timeless scene: Here, two old friends gingerly and jovially play a game of chess, sipping coffee as they wait for their furry friend to make the next move. The work is executed in Rockwell's signature descriptive style of finely drawn, clear realism with a wealth of fascinating detail. In discussing his career, Rockwell commented, "I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed. And perhaps, therefore, this is one function of the illustrator. He can show what has become so familiar that it is no longer noticed. The illustrator thus becomes a chronicler of his time." (as quoted in Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1986, p. xii) Rockwell seemingly utilizes one of his favorite models in the present work-James K. Van Brunt. The artist recalled his initial meeting with Van Brunt in 1924 in New Rochelle, New York: "I remember it was June and it was terribly hot. I was working in my underwear and not getting along too well because my brushes were slippery with perspiration. Suddenly the downstairs door banged and I heard someone come up the stairs treading on each step with a loud, deliberate thump...A tiny old man with a knobby nose, an immense, drooping mustache, and round, heavy-lidded eyes stamped bellicosely into the studio. 'James K. Van Brunt, sir,' he said, saluting me and bowing all at once. 'Five feet two inches tall, sir. The exact height of Napoleon Bonaparte!' And he pushed out his thin little chest, which was encased in a fawn colored vest. 'I have fought the Confederate Army at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and in the Wilderness,' he said. 'I have battled the nations of the Sioux under Dull Knife, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. I have fought the Spaniards, sir, in Cuba.' And he rapped his cane on the floor and looked at me very belligerently. Then, having ascertained that I wasn't going to contradict him, he took off his gloves and his wide brimmed hat, laid them on a chair, and patted his mustache. 'This mustache, sir,' he said, 'is eight full inches wide from tip to tip. The ladies, sir, make much of it.' And he winked at me and walked over to my mirror to stare at his mustache." (My Adventures as an Illustrator, New York, 1994, p. 206) Van Brunt was a consummate professional as a model, carefully practicing his poses in the mirror in advance of a session and, at times, inspiring the idea for the cover illustration. Rockwell stated that he used to suggest a cover almost every time they saw one another and referred to the day when Van Brunt first showed up at his studio as "one of the luckiest days of my life." (My Adventures as an Illustrator, p. 206) James K. Van Brunt appeared in ten Post covers by Rockwell, as well as countless other paintings used as advertisements, such as the present work. Given Van Brunt's distinctive visage with his mustache, the editor at the Post, George Horace Lorimer, complained. "Rockwell recalled, 'Mr. Lorimer said to me, 'I think you're using that man too much. Everybody's beginning to notice it. Maybe you'd better stop for a while. That mustache of his is too identifiable.' Rockwell informed Van Brunt of the problem, 'If you take off your mustache I can use you again...Otherwise I just can't.' Two weeks later Van...

Original cover for Good Housekeeping, published October 1922. The Young Scholar, reproduced on the cover of the October 1922 issue of Good Housekeeping, demonstrates Jessie Willcox ...

J.C. Leyendecker's "Boy Scouts Signaling with Flags," first published on the cover of The September 9, 1911 edition of The Saturday Evening Post, quickly became an iconic image of the Boy Scouts of America, which was founded the previous year. Embodying core values like leadership, teamwork, and preparedness, its widespread reproduction cemented its status as a defining visual representation of the organization. The painting depicts two scouts practicing flag signaling, a vital early 20th-century communication skill and a requirement for the Eagle Scout...

Original cover for The Saturday Evening Post magazine, published May 14, 1932 Joseph Christian Leyendecker’s Circus Bareback Rider (1932) is a standout example of his work for The S...

Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed Middle Left Cover of Saturday Evening Post magazine (Easter edition), April 1905. This is one of Leyendecker's first Easter covers for the Sa...

Original cover for Liberty magazine, published August 17, 1929. Lil calls Sandy down to a nice breakfast to be served in her new fruit dishes, as she asks Sandy to bring her purse and materials to fix the carpet runner, which he forgets. Lil is horrified to find her sideboard key in baby Ulysses’ mouth and she proceeds to feed the baby while asking Sandy to give her updates on a recent triple suicide outlined in the newspaper. Ulysses pounds his cereal spoon, sending sprays of milk across the table onto Sandy’s elbow and Lil’s new fifty-dollar negligee. (Liberty magazine, August 17, 1929, p. 38) “For the Love o’ Lil: The Picture Story of an American Family” In 1926, under his long-term contract to produce a cover per week for Liberty magazine, Leslie Thrasher introduced a signature cast of characters that appeared each week, telling a serialized story through his illustrations. Liberty touted its new cover serial as “something no magazine has ever done before…Heretofore, all magazine cover...

Original cover for Liberty magazine, published February 7, 1931. It’s wintertime and the streets are filled with muddy slush as the children of the neighborhood, Gwendolyn Smithers and Red Hancock, play outside. Red climbs to the top of a swaying wooden fence and begins to walk across it like a tightrope as he brags to Gwendolyn, “I bet you can’t do this.” Hoping he would slip, Gwendolyn giggles, “Ho-ho! I bet I can do it with my eyes shut.” As his ankles shake on the wobbling fence, Red bravely shouts, “I dare you...

Original cover for Liberty magazine, published August 4, 1928. Having left her husband Sandy, Lil returns to the Morse family home with her two-month-old baby. Ma Morse worries abou...

“Hearts are Trumps: Pop Morse, as the Dummy, Makes a Grand Slam,”original cover for Liberty magazine, published March 19, 1927 Pop Morse is immersed in his income taxes as Lil remin...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right Watching Over Them, Brown & Bigelow illustration

Gerlach Barklow Co. calendar illustration Signed Lower Right

Medium: Acrylic on Board Signature: Unsigned The Making of the American Flag, 1994.

Original cover for Liberty magazine, published October 3, 1931 Sandy is excited to receive an unexpected $35 income tax refund check. After going to the bank, he goes to lunch with ...

This vibrant mid-century illustration by Lawrence Gordon Low, painted directly from life, was submitted to a magazine cover contest sponsored by the paint company Devoe and Raynolds,...

Magazine story illustration for “Hero Come Home” by Ruth Burr Sanborn for The Saturday Evening Post, published September 12, 1942, page 24. This sentimental illustration, accompany...

Magazine story illustration for part four of “Black Jack” by Robert E. Pinkerton, published in The Saturday Evening Post, December 11, 1943, page 32. This compelling illustration, ...

"Heah's a Few Little Trinkets I Picked Up," or "Phil and the Judge" Probable book or magazine illustration showing the character named Phil in front of a judge. Artwork Dimension...

The image features a political discussion. Published to accompany the poem “The Day of Reckoning” in Drawings by A. B. Frost (New York: Duffield & Co.), 1904. Subsequently released ...

Original cover for Liberty magazine, published February 2, 1929. Lil and Sandy stop by New York city on their way to Florida. Elegantly dressed and driving a fancy car, the couple a...

Original cover for The Saturday Evening Post magazine, published July 14-July 21, 1962 This 1962 Post cover by George Hughes evokes the carefree spirit of summer road trips. While m...

Original cover for The Saturday Evening Post magazine, published January 23, 1960 A businessman sits on the beach at a resort surrounded by financial newspapers and office communica...

Back Cover illustration for the April 8, 1950 Easter edition of The War Cry, a magazine published by the Salvation Army This heartwarming image graced the back cover of the 1950 Eas...

Original Christmas holiday cover for The Saturday Evening Post, published December 6, 1958 We’re thrilled to announce the acquisition of an original 1958 Christmas cover for The Sat...

For Norman Rockwell's Four Seasons calendar series for Brown & Bigelow By the end of World War II, Norman Rockwell was a household name throughout the United States and considered...

Original cover for Liberty magazine, published June 22, 1929. Sandy, away on a business trip, calls Lil to check in. The two discuss bills and talk about how much they miss each oth...

“Their Romantic Honeymoon: The Bride and Groom Visit Niagara Falls,” original cover for Liberty magazine, published July 9, 1927 Newlyweds Lil and Sandy are on their honeymoon at N...

Signed by Artist Lower Right Commissioned from the artist by Coats & Clark thread company circa 1939 Exhibited at the Mint Museum, January 2022

Date: 1940 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 38.00" x 30.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right Original Cover Illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, December 28, 1940 At the heart of this touching and humorous Christmas work which appeared on the December 28, 1940 cover of THE SATURDAY EVENING POST, is the juxtaposition of the heads of the astonished boy holding a Drysdale package, the Drysdale poster of the store Santa in costume, and the drowsy man wearing the Santa pants and boots under his overcoat, obviously on his way home from work. Rockwell’s gift as a storyteller in pictures is displayed here at its best. The simple use of predominantly three colors – red, black and white, and the omission of any extraneous detail, add to the strength of this fine example of illustration art. Exhibitions Fort Lauderdale Museum of the Arts, Ford Lauderdale, Florida, Norman Rockwell: A Sixty Year Retrospective, February 11- March 5, 1972. The Booklyn Museum, March- April 1972 Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C, May 26, 1972- July 23, 1972 McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, Texas, July 1972- August 1972 M.H De Yound Memorial Museum, Golden State Park, San Francisco, California, Norman Rockwell: A Sixty Year Retrospective, September 9, 1972- September 5, 1972. Osaka, Japan, Hankyu Department Store, April 4-9, 1975. Press The Saturday Evening Post, December 29, 1940, cover illustration. A.L. Guptill, Norman Rockwell: Illustrator, New York, 1946, p.179, cover illustrated. T.S. Buechner, Norman Rockwell: Artist and Illustrator, New York, 1970, no. 529, illustrated. T.S. Buechner, Norman Rockwell: A Sixty Year Retrospective, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1972, p. 78, illustrated. M. Hart Hennessey and A. Knutson, Norman Rockwell: Pictures for the American People, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1999, p. 160, illustrated. C. Finch, Norman Rockwell’s America...

Original magazine advertisement for ‘Cream of Wheat’ hot cereal, published 1914. From the archives of Nabisco, and Kraft Foods; nº 226. Artwork Dimensions: 28" x 22" Framed Dimens...

“Exalt His Name Together” Calendar illustration; publisher: (Shaw-Barton), January 1962; The Household Hints Calendar Original calendar accompanies this piece Sight Size: 24.75" x ...

Preliminary cover illustration for Collier's magazine, presumably unpublished This whimsical cartoonish image of a young woman dashing across a vibrant green landscape likely served...

"The Coward" (Woman Kissing Soldier). Original cover illustration for Life Magazine, published April 1919. Norman Rockwell’s The Coward (or, Woman Kissing Soldier) was published on...

Original cover forThe Saturday Evening Post, published December 23, 1950 A man arrives home carrying a Christmas tree only to discover that his wife has already bought one. The wo...

Study for an unidentified magazine cover. A figural work depicting one female and three male figures, the recumbent female seated in a palanquin litter chair, her male lover kissing...

Study for the cover of the November 15, 1912 issue of Vogue magazine A figural work depicting lovers figures, the recumbent male costumed as a masked Harlequin clown, the female sea...

Original magazine cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, published July 18, 1931 The image features a clockmaker repairing a clock. Artwork Dimensions: 28.25" x 22.25” M...

Alternate original cover for The New Yorker, published March 20, 1937. The colorful image features people admiring flowers at a garden show. Swiss born Roger Duvoisin studied at the...

Original magazine cover illustration for Good Housekeeping, published August 1906. The illustration features a young woman in pink sitting in a rowboat Artwork Dimensions: 22.5" x 2...

Original cover for The Saturday Evening Post, published March 31, 1917. The illustration features a young woman admiring a floral hat in a milliner's window. A beautiful and delicat...

Original cover for The Saturday Evening Post, published October 13, 1906 Gruger illustrated only three post covers throughout his career. This was the second one completed. Artwor...

The Outing Magazine commissioned Parrish to provide a cover illustration for their 1899 Last Rose of Summer edition (published December 1899). In the poster, Maxfield used his own face and figure to portray a youth in Grecian costume examining a rose he holds in his hand. The figure is shown sitting below one of the massive oaks on the artist’s property, flanked by two plaster lions the artist had moulded in his studio. The depiction harks back to the 1805 poem by the Irish poet, Thomas Moore: ‘Tis the last rose of summer, Left blooming alone; All her lovely companions Are faded and gone; No flower of her kindred, No rose-bud is nigh, To reflect back her blushes Or give sigh for sigh! I’ll not leave thee, thou lone one...

Original story illustration for “Judge Abbey and the Four Elves” By Cecily Teague Crowe for the Ladies’ Home Journal, published October 1948 The full caption reads: "'You'd think,' ...

Story illustration for The Robe (People's Book Club) written by Lloyd Douglas, 1942 "Father had bought Demetrius six years ago and presented him to Marcellus on his seventeenth birt...

The illustration features a young boy and older man with a cow and a dog. Medium: Oil Paint Signature: Signed Lower Right Dimensions: 26.00" x 24.00" As noted in Vintage Illustrati...

Medium: Oil Paint Signature: Signed Lower Right Dimensions: 26.00" x 24.00" As noted in Vintage Illustration by Rick and Charlotte Martin, Hy Hintermeister was actually the pen name...

A mother helps her son put on a tie in preparation for a formal party. Original cover for The Saturday Evening Post, October 16, 1948. George Hughes used his neighbors, the Rockwells, as models. The young man is Thomas Rockwell, the son of famed Norman Rockwell, and the mother is modeled after Thomas' actual mother and Norman's then-wife, Mary Rockwell...

Humorous illustration featuring a young boy fishing with his grandpa and dog in a rowboat. Louis Dow Calendar Illustration, March 28, 1939 Artwork Dimensions: 36" x 22" Framed Dim...

Illustration of a shaggy black and white dog taking a bath Original cover for The Saturday Evening Post, May 11, 1946 The Post editors described: "Artist Albe...

A shaggy black and white dog sits in front of a fire hydrant Promotional illustration used on items like playing cards and calendars. In the published images, the sign on the fir...

The present work was illustrated on the cover of the March 8, 1952 edition of the Saturday Evening Post. The Post writes, "When Stevan Dohanos was a little boy he was sometimes gran...

Saturday Evening Post, September 24, 1960, cover illustration. The present work was published as the cover illustration of the September 24, 1960 issue of The Saturday Evening Post....

Story illustration for "The Valley of the Giants," by Peter B. Kyne, published in The Red Book Magazine, June 1918, vol. 31, issue 2, pages 30-39 Kyne's tale was first serialized in...

The Saturday Evening Post cover, June 9, 1951 'John Clymer, while migrating through Wyoming in a motorcar, was amazed at the variety of birds that go there summers to keep house....

She Was in the Captain's Cabin, magazine story illustration for "Captain's Boy," by Paul Deresco Augsburg, published in American Magazine, October 1938 The full caption reads: "She ...

“The Gun-Runners” by Edwin Cole, published in The Youth’s Companion, May 6, 1926, pg. 343. Western illustration Literature: Schoonover, Smith & Dean 1450 Artwork Dimensions: 17.5...

Story illustration for "Beaver Woman's Vision" by James Willard Schultz, published in The American Boy, July 1935, pg. 5 The White Buffalo Robe, Schutz, pg. 30 Literature: Schoono...

Story illustration for “Love Song” by Rupert Hughes for Hearst’s International Combined with Cosmopolitan, published July 1934. The full caption reads: “The last act of a great Am...

Illustration of a dog in front of a church near a sign that says "Strangers Welcome" Canvas Dimensions: 20" x 16" Framed Dimensions: 25" x 21" Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signe...

Original cover for Liberty magazine, published August 16, 1924 A fashionable woman sitting at an information desk hands a slip of paper to a man Artwork Dimensions: 27" x 22" Mediu...

Signed with initials M.P. (lower right); inscribed Article III. "Irrigation" water let in on a field of alfalfa (in the lower margin) Written on back "February of 1902. Hot Springs,...