Born during the height of vaudeville’s popularity, Norman Rockwell’s (1894-1978) narrative work spans a century of American humor reflecting the slapstick sketches of the early 20th-century stage to the mayhem of television variety shows of the 1960s. Drawn from the permanent collection at Norman Rockwell Museum, this exhibition of over 20 paintings and drawings examines the comical content of Rockwell’s funniest published illustrations and how he composed his scenes to engage and delight his ever-expanding audiences. Rockwell’s humorous innovations shine a spotlight on the changing face of humor in the United States as its citizens recovered from wars, endured The Great Depression, and met the uncertainties of a modern world.

Norman Rockwell came of age during a time when humor in the United States was deeply racist and sexist, and magazines were filled with derogatory depictions of United States citizens who were not Anglo American. These pernicious stereotypes never interested Rockwell, who turned his keen eye to the foibles and follies of his own family, friends, and community. In his earliest published work, Rockwell’s subjects were the pastimes and antics of adolescent boys and the comedic pathos and preoccupations of old men. His art also portrays, with observant admiration, determined girls and strong women. In the ’40s and ’50s, his stories became sequential, with a punch line or a sequence of charming events, such as the joyful activities over one day in the life of a young girl or boy. His late humor relies on an unforeseen circumstance of everyday life or an unlikely/likely pairing as a source of humor, such as his renowned portrait of a befuddled fisherman and his winsome mermaid catch.