Laurie Norton Moffatt, Norman Rockwell Museum Director/CEO, joins world representatives and dignitaries at the Caen Mémorial Museum to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy and introduce the first ever European exhibition featuring Norman Rockwell’s original Four Freedoms paintings in the touring exhibition Rockwell, Roosevelt & the Four Freedoms.

Moffatt is joined by Ruby Bridges, a Museum Trustee, Civil Rights activist, and subject of Rockwell’s painting “Problem We All Live With” depicting Ruby’s historic walk to the first desegregated school in New Orleans in 1960, and Daisy Rockwell, artist, writer and granddaughter of Norman. Moffatt, Bridges, and Rockwell are guest speakers at numerous events throughout the week.

Born amid the turmoil of WWII, the original Four Freedoms were ideals elucidated by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1941: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Fear, and Freedom from Want. Its presence in France is a major Franco-American cultural event of 2019.

Each year, the Caen Mémorial Museum produces and displays two to three temporary exhibitions on subjects that complement its permanent exhibition on World War II and the Cold War by contributing cultural, research-related, or educational expertise. Rockwell, Roosevelt, and the Four Freedoms will be the first exhibition of paintings of this scope in thirty years.

“These are four of the most important paintings in America,” said Moffatt at a preview reception at Caen on Monday, June 3. “They helped rally a nation to come together in defense of human rights and they are as relevant today as when President Roosevelt articulated these ideals in 1941.” Visit the Caen Memorial Facebook page for more opening remarks: View here on Facebook…

Rockwell, Roosevelt & the Four Freedoms brings together numerous other examples of painting, illustration, and more, by both Rockwell and a broad range of his contemporaries—from J.C. Leyendecker and Mead Schaeffer, to Ben Shahn, Dorothea Lange, and Gordon Parks, among others—as well as historical documents, photographs, videos, and artifacts; interactive digital displays; and immersive settings. While exploring the response of an earlier generation to the plea for defense of universal freedoms, the exhibition also resonates with our own time.

Over 80 works of art, objects, documents and illustrations illuminating the historic context in which FDR articulated the Four Freedoms and the role of Rockwell’s paintings in bringing them to life for millions of people, rallying the public behind the War effort and changing the tenor of the times. The exhibition demonstrates the power of illustration to communicate ideas and inspire change. After France, the exhibition tour continues to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Denver Art Museum; and returns to Norman Rockwell Museum in September, 2020.

About the Caen Memorial

The Caen Memorial, a museum and commemorative center for the events of the Great Wars, also focuses on these liberties. Its mission is to raise awareness on the fragility of peace, using the Allies’ landing and liberation of mainland Europe on June 6, 1944 as its main vehicle. The Center, built on grounds where the iconic Battle of Normandy took place, is a wealth of authentic information, presented in a timeline format beginning in the pre-war period. It provides crucial contextual info and artifacts on the geopolitical mood of the time, and Rockwell, Roosevelt and The Four Freedoms will offer an important, complementary American perspective.

In order to host this exhibition in perfect conditions of preservation and security, the Caen Memorial and the City of Caen have undertaken significant renovations. The 15,000-square-foot temporary exhibition area will now meet international standards for exhibitions of this significance.

Enduring Ideals: Rockwell, Roosevelt and The Four Freedoms is not the first time the Caen Memorial employs art as a medium for peace. For the 30th anniversary of its opening this year, the Museum celebrated with an exhibit entitled 30 Years in 30 Photos, all of which were World Press Photo of the Year winners. Caen Memorial also sponsors the International Human Rights Cartoon Awards, and recently hosted a temporary exhibition on Heinous Cartoons from 1886-1945.

CAEN MEMORIAL MUSEUM/ LE MÉMORIAL DE CAEN
Tel.: +33 2 31 06 06 47
presse@memorial-caen.fr
www.memorial-caen.com
http://us.media.france.fr/en/node/7351

ATOUT FRANCE
Marion FOURESTIER
Director of Communications – USA
Tel: (212) 745-0963/67
marion.fourestier@atout-france.fr

NORMANDY TOURISM BOARD
Edouard VALERE
Head of Marketing
Tel : 0 (33) 2 32 33 07 07
e.valere@normandie-tourisme.fr

IMAGE CAPTIONS:
Image 1: Daisy Rockwell, Laurie Norton Moffatt, Ruby Bridges.
Image 2: Laurie Norton Moffatt, David H. Van Cleve, U.S. Ambassador to France, Ruby Bridges.
Images 3 and 4: Gallery photos from Mémorial de Caen
Image 5: Laurie Norton Moffatt, Prince Albert II of Monaco, Joel Bruno, Mayor of Caen

Laurie Norton Moffatt, Prince Albert II of Monaco, Joel Bruno, Mayor of Caen