Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms

You can tell by the details Norman Rockwell puts in the picture, the gentleman's wearing clothing that's different. He's not in a suit and tie like most of the audience. He stands up in his working man clothes, but he looks so noble. He's really inspired by the figure of Abraham Lincoln in that picture, and the citizens listen so attentively and respectfully. You see the courage of the figure in the center to stand up and speak his mind, knowing that he's in a safe, respectful environment of his community. Norman Rockwell even puts a cameo appearance of himself in the painting. The figure in the uppermost left portion is just a little glimpse of a cameo appearance of Norman Rockwell. In Freedom from Want, we're looking at a quintessential American Thanksgiving table and dinner with the family and friends gathered around the table, and this is a beautiful still life in the center of the table. We're surrounded by the animated faces and many of Norman Rockwell's family members and friends. In fact, his cook prepared the turkey that she's about to serve for the family, and Mrs. Rockwell, Mary Rockwell, is in this picture. And yet, if we look in the center of the table, we see a beautiful tour de force of painting. This is a still life that uses many layers of white-on-white paint to depict the clear water in the glasses and the white porcelain and the polished sterling silver. So it's really a very, very beautiful painting, but it at the same time captures this iconic American scene, the founding Thanksgiving meal of our nation. In Freedom from Fear, we look at a moment that is carried out everywhere around the world, every night, parents tucking their children into bed, hopefully with safety and with security and with the love and knowledge that they'll be safe when they wake up in the morning. Of course, we know this isn't so everywhere in the world, and so this picture captured beautifully this concept of being free from fear with a universal moment that everyone could identify with everywhere. There are many details in the picture that invite us to look closely, including the doll and the toys thrown carelessly by the side of the bed as the children are wrapped and tucked into bed with this soft cocoon, wool blanket, fuzzy, warm blanket. But if you look at the headline in the newspaper that the father is holding, you'll see a headline, Bombing Horrors in London, referencing the raging war in Europe at the time when America stepped into World War II. In Freedom to Worship, we're looking at a grouping of heads of people coming together, each worshiping according to the dictates of their own conscience. That's the phrase that's inscribed at the top of the painting, and you'll see many symbols of prayer in this picture, from the praying hands, which come together, to rosary beads, a Bible, other symbols of various religions. And we see a very pious, very reverential assemblage of people based on this founding tenant in our democracy of freedom to worship. It's been interesting to me to see the different reception over the years that people have to the four freedoms. At times, at certain times of the year, of course, people seem to identify most closely with the freedom from want picture, because of this warm family gathering and the tradition of Thanksgiving in America. Freedom of speech has often been described as the most powerful freedom, both compositionally and as a painting, and also as one of the founding tenants of our nation. But in recent times, when we've seen the world changed and rocked by the events of 9-11, freedom from fear has become more powerful to people and more inspirational, and so I think this is one of the truly universal aspects of not only these four paintings, but President Roosevelt's ideals, that these freedoms are timeless, and over time, our vigilance and our need to defend them changes and shifts, and Norman Rockwell captured them so beautifully with these everyday moments in our lives that we continue to identify with these pictures.