Art Masterpiece: The Dugout

By Norman Rockwell

Artist Biography

1948 – Cover of Saturday Evening Post

Keywords: Illustrate, Model, Portrait, Realism

Grade: 4 - 6

Activity: Realistic Portrait/Magazine Cover

Illustrate: to create designs and pictures for books or magazines to explain or show what happens in a story.

Model: a person who poses for an artist.

Portrait: any work of art showing a person, several people or an animal. Portraits usually emphasize the face.

Realism: the true appearance of people, objects or scenes as seen by the human eye. Realistic art attempts to re-create the colors, textures, shapes and arrangements of actual objects.

About the Artist:

Without thinking too much about it in specific terms, I was showing
the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed.

—Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell was born on February 3, 1894 in New York City. His father was the manager of a large textile firm. They were a wealthy family and often ended dinner by reading Dickens’ novels. As his father read, Norman would draw portraits of the Dickens’ characters. Rockwell always wanted to be an artist, although his mother never wanted him to pursue art as a career. She never thought that he would be able to make a living drawing but Rockwell said he never wanted to do anything else.

Rockwell was a thin, uncoordinated boy who started wearing corrective shoes when he was 10 and glasses when he was 12. Because he was not able to compete in sports, he turned his attention to drawing. At age 14, Rockwell enrolled in art classes at the New York School of Art. Two years later, in 1910, he left high school to study art at The National Academy of Design in NYC. His art teacher told him that he needed to “live in the picture”. From that teacher, Rockwell learned how crucial facial expressions are in an illustration.

Rockwell found success early. He had his first paid work to design four Christmas cards. When he was 17 he illustrated his first book. At age 19, he was hired as art director of Boys’ Life, the official publication of the Boy Scouts of America, and began a successful career illustrating a variety of young peoples’ publications. Later in his life, Rockwell donated many pieces of art to the Boy Scouts and they currently have the largest collections of his work.

In 1916, when he was 22, Rockwell started illustrating covers for the Saturday Evening Post magazine. During this time period, he became famous for his realistic illustrations. He created 321 covers for the Post, and when his art appeared on the cover, 50,000-75,000 additional copies were sold. Rockwell frequently used his neighbors and friends as models while he painted the everyday happenings surrounding him. Rockwell is often considered a historian of a better era of America’s past, a chronicler of happier times when small town values and honesty were commonplace. He did not want to paint anything tragic or corrupt. Rockwell painted what he wanted life to be. Sometimes Rockwell would visualize a child in his mind for a portrait and then he would travel to different schools looking for the right person to model for him. He would pay kids a nickel to sit for hours while he would draw them.

Rockwell was married 3 times and had 3 sons with his second wife. In 1943, he ended his 47-year career with the Post and began to work for Look magazine. During his 10-years with Look, Rockwell paintings included civil rights, space exploration and poverty. From 1952-1972, Rockwell was commissioned to paint the portrait of every major Presidential candidate.

In 1977, Rockwell received the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for his “vivid and affectionate portraits of our country”. Rockwell died in 1978 at the age of 84. He will always remain one of America’s best-loved artists.

Background info: The Dugoutwas a cover for the Post in 1948, which was not a good year for baseball fans. Both the Cubs and the White Sox were in the cellars of their respective leagues. The Cubs had 64 wins and 90 losses. The fans in the bleachers entertained themselves by betting nickels on balls and strikes. The original painting was sold for $345,000.00 in 1996.

Possible Questions:

  • The purpose of an illustration is to provide the viewer with information. Describe some of the details in The Dugout.
  • Who is the boy standing in front of the dugout? What is he thinking by the look on his face?
  • What story idea does the illustration show?
  • How does Rockwell help you guess the feelings of the players? The spectators? What do you think the spectators are saying? Who are they talking to?
  • Do the people look real? Why?
  • What is a painting of people called? (portrait)
  • Who do you think Rockwell used for the models?