Lot 18
- 18
Norman Rockwell 1894 - 1978
Estimate
300,000 - 500,000 USD
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Description
- Norman Rockwell
- Color Study for 'Shuffleton's Barbershop'
- inscribed My best wishes to my/friend/Rob Shuffleton/sincerely/Norman Rockwell on a piece of the original mat
- oil on photograph mounted on board
- image: 11 by 10 1/4 inches (27.9 by 26 cm)
- board: 17 3/4 by 17 inches (40.1 by 43.2 cm)
- Painted in 1950.
Provenance
Robert Shuffleton, East Arlington, Vermont (gift from the artist)
By descent to the present owner (his granddaughter)
By descent to the present owner (his granddaughter)
Catalogue Note
The present work is a color study for one of Norman Rockwell’s most iconic paintings, Shuffleton's Barbershop, which appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on April 29, 1950. Famously meticulous, Rockwell utilized the color study in order to develop the palette and light patterns displayed in the final painting. To accomplish this he typically painted directly on a photograph of a charcoal drawing. Often exhibiting a more painterly style of execution, Rockwell’s color studies allowed him to select the color combinations that would achieve an immediate and dramatic visual impact for his enormous audience of readers.
Color Study for ‘Shuffleton’s Barbershop’ depicts the interior of an actual establishment that was located on Maple Street in East Arlington, Vermont, where Rockwell and his family moved in 1939. The present work is a highly finished study. Indeed, Rockwell made only a few minor adjustments in the final painting, altering minimal details such as the items on the shelves and adding the cracked glass-paned window in the foreground that separates the viewer from the scene within. Light plays a particularly important role, demonstrating Rockwell’s acute understanding of the effects of light within an interior space as well as plainly revealing his admiration for the work of Dutch masters such as Johannes Vermeer and Pieter de Hooch, who similarly utilized dramatic juxtapositions of light and shadow to imbue their work with a sense of drama.
Color Study for ‘Shuffleton’s Barbershop’ is particularly remarkable for the sense of authenticity it exudes. Many of the minute details Rockwell includes—such as the selection of comic books waiting for customers to browse—are faithful to the shop at the time. Rockwell also asked several Arlington residents to pose as the trio of musicians stationed in the brightly illuminated back room, including the owner, Robert Shuffleton, who plays the cello with his back to the viewer. In reality, however, none of these men were musicians and thus the scene Rockwell depicts likely never occurred. Ultimately, Color Study for ‘Shuffleton’s Barbershop’ epitomizes the artist’s interest in synthesizing the real with the imagined in order to conjure a compelling story.
Color Study for ‘Shuffleton’s Barbershop’ depicts the interior of an actual establishment that was located on Maple Street in East Arlington, Vermont, where Rockwell and his family moved in 1939. The present work is a highly finished study. Indeed, Rockwell made only a few minor adjustments in the final painting, altering minimal details such as the items on the shelves and adding the cracked glass-paned window in the foreground that separates the viewer from the scene within. Light plays a particularly important role, demonstrating Rockwell’s acute understanding of the effects of light within an interior space as well as plainly revealing his admiration for the work of Dutch masters such as Johannes Vermeer and Pieter de Hooch, who similarly utilized dramatic juxtapositions of light and shadow to imbue their work with a sense of drama.
Color Study for ‘Shuffleton’s Barbershop’ is particularly remarkable for the sense of authenticity it exudes. Many of the minute details Rockwell includes—such as the selection of comic books waiting for customers to browse—are faithful to the shop at the time. Rockwell also asked several Arlington residents to pose as the trio of musicians stationed in the brightly illuminated back room, including the owner, Robert Shuffleton, who plays the cello with his back to the viewer. In reality, however, none of these men were musicians and thus the scene Rockwell depicts likely never occurred. Ultimately, Color Study for ‘Shuffleton’s Barbershop’ epitomizes the artist’s interest in synthesizing the real with the imagined in order to conjure a compelling story.