“Girl At The Mirror”

ROCKWELL HAS SAID THAT HE feels he has been more successful at capturing the world of the small boy than that of the young girl. As a rule, this has been true, but here is an instance where an exception must be made. In painting this girl on the brink of womanhood, studying herself in a mirror, a movie star's portrait resting on her knees, Rockwell has been completely successful in capturing the poignancy of the moment.

The picture has the immediacy of a snapshot, but this is tempered by the mellowness of oil paint on canvas. It is charged with symbolism--the doll cast aside tells us that that phase of the girl's life is almost over--yet this does not interfere with the naturalism of the overall treatment. This is a subject that Rockwell might have tackled at almost any point in his career. We can be thankful that he painted it when his creative powers and sense of judgment were at their peak.