Freedom of Speech (painting)

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Freedom of Speech
Oil on canvas
Dimensions116.2 cm × 90 cm (45.75 in × 35.5 in)
LocationNorman Rockwell Museum,
Stockbridge, Massachusetts, United States

Freedom of Speech is the first of the

State of the Union address, known as Four Freedoms
.

The painting was published in the February 20, 1943, issue of The Saturday Evening Post with a matching essay by Booth Tarkington.[1] Rockwell felt that this and Freedom of Worship were the most successful of the set.[2]

Background

Freedom of Speech was the first of a series of four oil paintings, entitled Four Freedoms, by

Freedom from Want (March 6) and Freedom from Fear (March 13). Eventually, the series became widely distributed in poster form and became instrumental in the U. S. Government War Bond Drive. People who purchased war bonds during the Second War Bond Drive received a full-color set of reproductions of the Four Freedoms that had a commemorative cover with Freedom of Speech on it.[7]

Description

Freedom of Speech depicts a scene of a local

selectmen's announced plans to build a new school, as the old one had burned down,[8] was accorded the floor as a matter of protocol.[9] Edgerton supported the rebuilding process but was concerned about the tax burden of the proposal, as his family farm had been ravaged by disease.[10] A memory of this scene struck Rockwell as an excellent fit for illustrating "freedom of speech", and inspired him to use his Vermont neighbors as models for the entire Four Freedoms series.[11]

The blue-collar speaker wears a plaid shirt and suede jacket, with dirty hands and a darker complexion than others in attendance.

Jimmy Stewart character in a Frank Capra film.[15]

Production

Rockwell attempted several versions of this work from a variety of perspectives, including this one.

The model for the shy, brave young workman was Carl Hess, a Rockwell neighbor from Arlington, Vermont. [16] Hess was suggested as a model by Rockwell's assistant, Gene Pelham. Hess, the son of a German immigrant, was a married man who had a gas station in town. His children went to school with the Rockwell children.[8][13] According to Pelham, Hess "had a noble head".[17] The other models were: Carl Hess's father Henry (left ear only), Jim Martin (lower right corner; he would also appear in the other Four Freedoms paintings[16]), Harry Brown (right—top of head and eye only), Robert Benedict, Sr. and Rose Hoyt to the left. Rockwell's own eye is also visible along the left edge.[8] Pelham was the owner of the suede jacket worn by the model.[13] Hess posed for Rockwell eight different times for this work and all other models posed for Rockwell individually.[13]

Rockwell's final product was the result of four restarts and consumed two months.[8][12] Each version depicted the blue-collar man in casual attire standing up at a town meeting, but each was from a different angle.[12] Earlier versions were troubled by the distraction of multiple subjects, or improper placement and perspective of the subject which made the message unclear.[18] An early draft had Hess surrounded by others sitting squarely around him. Hess felt the depiction had a more natural look, but Rockwell objected: "It was too diverse, it went every which way and didn't settle anywhere or say anything." He felt the upward view from the bench level was more dramatic.[8] At one point, Rockwell had to admit to the Post's art director, Jim Yates, that he had to start Freedom of Speech from scratch after an early attempt because he had overworked it.[19] Twice he almost completed the work only to feel it was lacking. Eventually, he was able to produce the final version with the speaker as the subject rather than the assembly.[20]

Essay

Save freedom of speech. Buy war bonds poster by the Office of War Information, 1943

For the accompanying essay, Post editor Ben Hibbs chose novelist and dramatist Booth Tarkington, who was a Pulitzer Prize winner.[1] Tarkington's accompanying essay published in the February 20, 1943 issue of The Saturday Evening Post was really a fable or parable in which a youthful Adolf Hitler and a youthful Benito Mussolini meet in the Alps in 1912. During the fictional meeting both men describe plans to secure dictatorships in their respective countries via the suppression of freedom of speech.[21]

Critical review

This image was praised for its focus, and the empty

Elks club meeting feel rather than an open town meeting[13][tone], though alternate versions of the painting suggest that the red-haired individual on the left is female.[22]

Laura Claridge said, "The American ideal that the painting is meant to encapsulate shines forth brilliantly for those who have canonized this work as among Rockwell's great pictures. For those who find the piece less successful, however, Rockwell's desire to give concrete form to an ideal produces a strained result. To such critics the people looking up at the speaker have stars in their eyes, their posture conveying celebrity worship, not a room full of respectful dissent."[23]

Cole describes this freedom as an "active and public" subject that Rockwell formulated "his greatest painting forging traditional American illustration into a powerful and enduring work of art." He notes that Rockwell uses "a classic pyramidal composition" to emphasize the central figure, a standing speaker whose appearance is juxtaposed with the rest of the audience that by participating in democracy defends it. Cole describes Rockwell's figure as "the very embodiment of free speech, a living manifestation of that abstract right—an image that transforms principle, paint and, yes, creed, into an indelible image and a brilliant and beloved American icon still capable of inspiring millions world-wide".[4] He notes that the use of a New England town-hall meetings incorporates the "long tradition of democratic public debate" into the work while the blackboard and pew represent church and school, which, Cole says, are "two pillars of American life."[4]

Hibbs said of Speech and Worship, "To me they are great human documents in the form of paint and canvas. A great picture, I think is one which moves and inspires millions of people. The Four Freedoms did—do so."[24] Westbrook notes that Rockwell presents "individual dissent" that acts to "protect private conscience from the state."[21] Another writer describes the theme of the work as "civility".[25]

See also

Citations

  1. ^ a b Murray and McCabe, p. 61.
  2. ^ Hennessey and Knutson, p. 102.
  3. ^ a b "100 Documents That Shaped America:President Franklin Roosevelt's Annual Message (Four Freedoms) to Congress (1941)". U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News & World Report, L.P. Archived from the original on April 12, 2008. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e Cole, Bruce (October 10, 2009). "Free Speech Personified: Norman Rockwell's inspiring and enduring painting". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  5. .
  6. .
  7. ^ Murray and McCabe, p. 79.
  8. ^ a b c d e Meyer, p. 128.
  9. ^ Heydt, Bruce (February 2006). "Norman Rockwell and the Four Freedoms". America in WWII. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  10. ^ Journal, Greg Sukiennik, Manchester (July 11, 2018). "Arlington and Rockwell: A enduring relationship". Manchester Journal.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "Norman Rockwell in the 1940s: A View of the American Homefront". Norman Rockwell Museum. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  12. ^ a b c d Solomon, p. 205.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g Solomon, p. 207.
  14. .
  15. .
  16. ^ a b "Art: I Like To Please People". Time. Time Inc. June 21, 1943. Archived from the original on July 16, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  17. ^ Murray and McCabe, p. 35.
  18. ^ a b Hennessey and Knutson, p. 100.
  19. ^ Claridge, p. 307.
  20. ^ Murray and McCabe, p. 46.
  21. ^ .
  22. ^ "Pining for Democracy: A Few Readings". The Scholar's Stage. November 10, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  23. ^ Claridge, p. 309.
  24. ^ Murray and McCabe, p. 59.
  25. .

General and cited references