Public topics in private art and private moments in public art
One of the two photographs I have chosen to display for our topic on Private versus Public is “The Problem We All Live With”, 1964. (Look story illustration. Oil on canvas, 36 x 58 inches. Collection of The Norman Rockwell Museum at Stockbridge. © 1964 The Norman Rockwell Estate Licensing Company. Photo Courtesy of The Norman Rockwell Museum at Stockbridge).
Norman Rockwell, the American artist, is a master in capturing a momentary sentiment with powerful emotional overtones that draw the viewer in. The African American girl walks to school with her white male bodyguards, so that the new anti-segregation law could be upheld and put into practice. We participate in her view of a world, where headless white men over tower her. The closed fists of the men and their determined step contrast with her demeanor. Just a girl walking to school; nonthreatening, unremarkable. Her white dress and shoes portray her like a sacrificial lamb, with the blood of the tomato thrown at her in the backdrop.
We are watching her plight of having to walk the plank as a representation of her race, we are also aware of the absurdity of the situation. One can only refer to the historical writing of the time, and the references made by the critics to analyze this painting’s contribution to our social consciousness. Her private moment of fear is for all to scrutinize.
After reading and viewing the topic list, please choose something you find that will represent this topic and discuss it in a similar manner on the blog. You have time until the 24th of September to post. Please include a picture in your post (or a link to a picture).
Use the category “Public Topics/Private Moments.”
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Cultural Map
"The Original Topography of Manhattan Island from the Battery to 155th Street" From Report on the Social Statistics of Cities, Compiled by George E. Waring, Jr., United States. Census Office, Part I, 1886. (Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas-Austin)
