Art of World War II

Norman Rockwall Served in WW1 in the U.S. Navy. While serving, Rockwell was assigned to work with the staff of the base newspaper in Charleston, North Carolina. There, he drew portraits of men and women serving in the military and also continued to create covers for the Post as long as the subject of the covers were military related. When World War II began, Rockwell decided to reflect the mood of the country through a fictional character, Willie Gillis. Willie Gillis represented an average, American man during wartime. Making appearances on eleven different covers, Rockwell depicted Gillis’ experience as a soldier from induction into the military until he was discharged. None of Rockwell’s wartime illustrations depicted any wartime battles, but instead, focused on the strength of the individuals and war time efforts at home.

Four of his works, known collectively as the Four Freedoms, are oil paintings Rockwell created in response to President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address. Within the body of his speech, FDR stated that all people are entitled to four basic freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear

Freedom Of Speech Beginning with Freedom of Speech, Rockwell made several drafts of the painting. Based on events in his hometown in Vermont, the final draft shows a man standing and preparing to speak to a room crowded with people holding a local town meeting. The scene is taken from a community issue in Rockwell’s hometown in Vermont. The meeting is convened to discuss the rebuilding of the town’s school which had burned down. The speaker is Rockwell’s neighbor, Jim Edgerton. Edgerton opposes the plan and is speaking in front of his neighbors. The atmosphere is calm as though all in the room recognize and respect the man’s right to voice his opinion. Both young and old neighbors sit silent anticipating and waiting for the man to speak. Although the people who surround the speaker are dressed in suits, the speaker is depicted as a blue-collar, working man wearing a plaid shirt and a suede jacket. The speaker is powerfully framed by a very large blackboard. For this painting, Rockwell used his neighbors as the models. Rockwell also painted himself in the scene. (Heydt)  

Freedom Of Speech The second painting in the series, Freedom of Worship, shows a group of people worshiping. Written at the top of the painting is the phrase, “Each according to the dictates of his own conscience.” Rockwell knew the quote from memory and used it as the inspiration for his painting. The work consists primarily of neutral tones of white, beige and grays. There are eight subjects in the painting, men and women of different ethnicities, each engaged in worship. One man wears a Yarmulke, a head-covering worn by Jewish men, while holding a Bible; a younger woman to his right holds a Catholic rosary. Two older women, one white and one African-American are pictured with eyes closed in prayer. An older man with hands clasped in prayer is placed between the women. Originally, the setting of Freedom of Worship was in a neighborhood barbershop filled with people from varying faiths.

Freedom Of Want Freedom from Want is the third painting, and the most iconic in the Rockwell’s Four Freedoms series. The painting depicts an American family gathering for Thanksgiving dinner. As the grandmother sets a large turkey on the table, cheerful conversation is already in progress. The viewer is automatically pulled into the family gathering as if watching from the opposite end of the table. The figure on the bottom right acknowledges the viewer’s entry into the scene with a familiar look. Rockwell uses a primarily neutral pallet consisting of white dishes and a white tablecloth. The light tones are contrasted with the grandfather’s dark suit as well as the hair-color of the family. The dark tones draw the viewer’s eye into the scene allowing the viewer to look at the expressions of each of the gatherers.  

Freedom Of Fear The final painting in the series is titled Freedom from Fear. Initially the viewer enters the scene and notices a mother and father tucking their children in bed after the day’s events. The children are peacefully sleeping. The father is holding a newspaper with headlines that tell of a horrific bombing as well as a pair of glasses indicating that he has just finished reading the article. While the father gently looks at his children, the mother, still wearing her apron after finishing the night’s dishes, pulls the covers up to make the children more secure and comfortable as they sleep. (Bittar) A picture of a guarding angel rests above the bed and a warm glow in the background gives warmth to the painting. The furnishings, stairs, and attire depict a working, middle-class family. Rockwell uses many different details to give the viewer a sense of love, comfort, and security.

Rosie the Riveter After the Post printed Rockwell’s Four Freedom series, Rockwell continued to showcase the American spirit. On the May 1943 cover of the Post, Rockwell’s painting, Rosie the Riveter, made its debut. The title of his painting was based on a popular song titled, “Rosie the Riveter.” Rosie represented all the women who joined the workforce in America’s factories and shipyards as men enlisted into the military. Pictured in front of the flag, Rosie is seen as a patriot. She has traded a fashionable dress for overalls with a heavy riveter resting in her lap. Her feet are casually and uncaringly propped up on a copy of Adolf Hitler’s MeinKampf as she takes her lunch break. She wears loafers and not steel-toed work shoes that were available for male factory workers. Because there was not a demand for this type of shoe for women, steel-toe work shoes did not come in women’s sizes. In addition to Rosie wearing a more feminine style of shoe, Rockwell purposefully acknowledges a woman’s contribution to the war effort by depicting Rosie with lipstick, nail polish, and rouge. (Garmin)  

Rosie the Riveter Her facial expression shows a haughty confidence, seemingly to warn the enemy to beware of America and its workforce. Her muscular arms and posture convey strength of character. In addition to acknowledging the sacrifice of everyday, working women, the painting also helped the war effort. The response to Rosie the Riveter caused an increase to the sale of war bonds.   It was also a critical point of propaganda that doing "a man's work" would not defeminize a woman. Rockwell walks a fine line here; even though Rosie has muscular arms, she is nonetheless wearing rouge, lipstick, and nail polish. The historical accuracy of that little visual flourish is probably up for debate, but Rockwell's point is still clear. Rockwell’s painting of “Rosie the Riveter” was loaned by the Post to the U.S. Treasury Department for use in posters and campaigns promoting war bonds. In 2002, Rockwell’s Rosie the Riveter was purchased by a Colorado art gallery for $4.9 million.