“War News”

NORMAN ROCKWELL SEEMS TO HAVE been a lifelong connoisseur of humble dining establishments. Again and again, he has lavished his affection on diners, truck stops, coffeeshops, malt shops, soda fountains and cafeterias. Each of these he has recreated on canvas with such a feeling for the realities of the place that you can almost smell the bacon frying on the griddle. His naturalism goes beyond the careful observation of the physical objects that make up such an environment—the cheap dinnerware, the vinyl seats of the bar stools, the functional tiled floor—to an understanding of its ambiance.

This is true of all his interiors. We always sense the human presences and practical contingencies that have shaped them. They exist in time as well as space.

In the present example we know that we are being shown real people in a real setting. There is an intimacy about this group that is totally convincing. We understand the relationship of the three men without having to be told a word of dialogue. We are presented with just enough of the interior itself to know exactly what kind of place it is. From the information we are given it is easy for us to conjure up the rest of the room, other customers, even the kind of neighborhood it might be situated in. As in most of his best work, Rockwell uses one apparently insignificant tableau to evoke an entire way of life.