“Home From Vacation”

ALTHOUGH THERE IS NOTHING PARTICULARLY clever or original about this 1930 painting for a Post cover, it is a fine example of a genre that Rockwell always handled with such skill that he eventually made it his own. The poses of the three figures tell us all that needs to be known about the subject, but there are many quiet embellishments—the escaping frog, the limp daisies, the deflated balloon—that add greatly to the success of the com- position.

Had this cover been painted ten years later, Rockwell would probably have given this exhausted young family a more detailed setting, but in most respects this painting has all the elements that we associate with his maturity as an illustrator. We sense a total confidence in the way he has handled the subject. He knows exactly what must be done to make the situation believable, and he does it with a minimum of fuss.