Norman Rockwell’s masterpiece is among a selection of his genre paintings of American life to feature at Sotheby’s sale of American art in New York on December 4. The seven works are led by two icons of Rockwell’s extensive oeuvre – Saying Grace ($15/20 million), voted as their favorite cover by readers of the Saturday Evening Post in 1955 – and The Gossips ($6/9 million) as well as Walking to Church ($3/5 million) and a color study for Breaking Home Ties ($200/300,000), the final version of which set the artist’s current auction record when it sold at Sotheby’s New York in 2006 for $15.4 million. The paintings come from the descendants of Kenneth J. Stuart Sr., the artist’s longtime friend and art editor at the Saturday Evening Post and are estimated to acheive more than $24 million.
Elizabeth Goldberg, Head of Sotheby’s American Art department, commented: “To offer any one of these masterworks would be a great privilege. To present two of Norman Rockwell’s most iconic works in one auction truly is unprecedented. Kenneth J. Stuart Sr., who was both a gifted art editor and close friend, led Rockwell to produce what are arguably the greatest works of his career. The men were at their best when collaborating, which clearly is evident in this collection. Rockwell’s vision of American life has become so influential that many of his scenes feel deeply familiar, but when experienced in person these paintings illicit an emotional response that is far more powerful than anticipated.”
Rockwell created his first cover for the Saturday Evening Post in 1916 and, over the course of the next several decades, rose to become the publication’s most popular and successful illustrator. By the mid-1940s, Rockwell had honed his aesthetic and technique: by adopting a more sophisticated subject matter and compositional design – often accomplished with a series of photographs that he meticulously arranged – Rockwell began to craft the nostalgic and humorous vision of American life for which he is known today. He created 322 covers for the post and the three illustrated here were particularly popular.
Norman Rockwell Saying Grace signed Norman Rockwell oil on canvas. Painted in 1951. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR A RECORD $46,085000
Norman Rockwell The Gossips signed Norman Rockwell oil on canvas. Painted in 1948. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $8,453,000
Walking to Church
signed Norman Rockwell (lower left) oil on canvas
Painted in 1953. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $3,245,000