“Man Threading a Needle”

IT IS A MARK OF NORMAN ROCKWELL' S enormous skill that he has been able to make powerful covers out of the simplest and most unlikely subject matter. This one, painted for the Post in 1922, shows nothing more exotic than a middle-aged man attempting to thread a needle preparatory to darning one of his socks, yet it is one of his most successful covers of that period. The composition is strong because it is so simple, but it is the wealth of carefully observed detail that brings the painting to life.

The man's features are a wonderful study in concentration, his tongue held firmly between teeth and lips and his nose pointing the way for the thread to go. His torso is rigid, and his hands—which seem much too big for this job—are pressed together to steady each other. He sits on a backless chair on which rest his pipe and his daily newspaper, the company of which he would undoubtedly prefer to the task in hand. His cat, ignored, brushes up against his trouser legs.

We are not told whether he is a bachelor or whether his wife is out of town on a visit. But we can see that he is a man who is concerned with his appearance, and we empathize with his predicament. If we study the painting closely, we will also notice that when he finishes with the sock, he will still not be quite ready to repair to the comforts of his newspaper and pipe. A button is missing from his vest.