Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) Oil on canvas No other statesman appears more in Rockwell's work than Abraham Lincoln, who is included in eight of Rockwell's paintings between 1927 and 1964. Rockwell enjoyed painting Lincoln, not only as an affirmation of his private views but also because of the complexity of painting Lincoln's face. In later years, Rockwell publicly stated that he thought Lincoln was the greatest American.
In 1959, discussing the use of photography in preparing an illustration, he told students of the Famous Artists Schools, "If you want to exalt a subject, you shoot up at him. To humiliate him, shoot down." Two years later, Rockwell welcomed the opportunity to paint Lincoln for Elisa Bialk's story, Lincoln for the Defense, about the trial of accused murderer William "Duff" Armstrong. The prosecution's case was based on a witness testifying that he saw Armstrong commit the murder between ten and eleven at night. When Lincoln asked the witness how he could see him so clearly at that hour, the witness said it was a bright moonlit night. Lincoln won the case using an almanac to prove there was no moonlight on the night of the murder.
The groundwork for the painting-posing and photographing models and props—was done in Hollywood shortly after Rockwell's marriage to Molly Punderson on October 10, 1961. After a brief stay at New York's Plaza Hotel, the honeymooners traveled to Hollywood, where Rockwell's addiction to work compelled him to begin his assignment. Taking advantage of Hollywood's abundance of actors, he hired four men to pose as Lincoln, two for Armstrong, and a middle-aged couple as onlookers (later omitted from the painting). Returning to his studio, he referenced thirty different magazine photos of Lincoln for the head and for period clothing. Then he proceeded with his painting.
Odds & Ends: The impressionistic brushwork and combining of different colors to achieve the nuances of shading in the whites of Lincoln's clothing remind us that this painting would be reduced to a much smaller size for a reproduction, in which the separate colors and chunky brushstrokes would blend.
Painting for The Saturday Evening Post story "Lincoln for the Defense" by Elisa Bialk, February 10, 1962 49.75 x 17.5 inches Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust, NRACT.1973.77 © 1962 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN.