“Thanksgiving”

IT HAS BEEN ONE OF NORMAN ROCKWELL'S great blessings as an illustrator that he has never been afraid to present the obvious. Lesser artists sometimes shy away from it, fearful that it will make their work seem banal. Rockwell—perfectly capable of producing novel ideas when the occasion demands—knows that the obvious can often be very powerful, realizing that the subtlety with which an idea is presented can have more to do with its impact than the cleverness of the idea itself.

For the first Thanksgiving after the end of World War II, Rockwell took an obvious subject—the veteran back in familiar surroundings—and used all his powers of sympathetic observation to bring it to life.

Often, we are able to guess at the dialogue that might accompany an incident that he has painted. In this instance the emotions that have welled up in both mother and son take them beyond words. Just being together in the same room is all the communication that is needed. The painting is still moving today. At the time it first appeared its impact must have been tremendous.