The Stay at Homes (Outward Bound), 1927 Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) Oil on canvas Over a forty-nine-year period beginning in 1924, Norman Rockwell contributed thirty-seven illustrations to Ladies' Home Journal. Some accompanied fictional stories, and some, like this one, told their own story, published with title only. The motif of children and the elderly was common throughout Rockwell's career. Rockwell enjoyed working with children and older adults. Because they were less self-conscious and less concerned about their dignity, he said, they were freer to act out the feelings he wanted them to express and less worried about how they might be portrayed.
When an artist depicts a person facing away from us, we are invited to place ourselves in that person's role, becoming the surrogate of the character. By presenting two choices, Rockwell increases the pool of viewers who might empathize with his characters, and he offers two different-in this case opposite-perspectives. This illustration would have worked just as well in a children's publication or one for seniors, but its overall sentimentality appealed to women. Other subjects Rockwell painted for the Journal included a young woman dreaming of romance, a Christmas visit to a sick friend, a young actor yearning for Hollywood stardom, and a woman posing for her portrait.
The foreground of this painting indicates a New England setting. In the summer of 1912, Rockwell spent three months studying painting with Charles Hawthorne in Provincetown, Massachusetts, which was then a Portuguese fishing village. Hawthorne had studied plein air painting (painting outdoors) with William Merritt Chase. In Rockwell's painterly treatment of the roofs, waves, trees, grass, and man's trousers, we see the influence of Chase's impressionistic style.
Similar to his magazine covers, Rockwell's subject pictures often provide clues for viewers to create a story continuum. In this case, the shingle-roofed cottage in the foreground may be the home the child and grandfather have left to climb the hill for a better look at the departing ship. When the ship is out of sight, or when night approaches- the westerly setting sun has already begun to cast them in shadow- they might return to light a fire to take the chill off a damp evening or to boil water for tea and reminisce about the grandfather's sailing adventures. Painting for Ladies' Home Journal illustration, October 1927 39.25 x 32.5 inches Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust, NRACT.1973.82 Licensed by Norman Rockwell Licensing Company, Niles, IL.