NORMAN ROCKWELL | Christmas Homecoming

Bernard Danenberg Galleries, Inc., New York
Private collection (acquired from the above; sold: Sotheby's, New York, October 14, 1970, lot 35)
Hammer Galleries, New York (acquired at the above sale)
Eleanor Ettinger, New York
Thomas Charles Gallery
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 1994

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, The Fort Lauderdale Museum of the Arts; Brooklyn, New York, Brooklyn Museum; Washington, D.C., Corcoran Gallery of Art; San Antonio, Texas, Marion Koogler McNay Institute; San Francisco, California, M.H. De Young Memorial Museum; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Art Center; Indianapolis, Indiana, Indianapolis Museum of Art; Omaha, Nebraska, Joslyn Art Museum; Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Norman Rockwell: A Sixty Year Retrospective, February 1972-April 1973, no. 45, p. 94, illustrated

Laurie Norton Moffatt, Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, vol. I, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1986, no. C446a, p. 181, illustrated p. 180

There are scattered original artist pinholes along the outer margins and in the composition and very minor losses to the sheet along the lower right outer margin and lower left corner. There are a few scattered handling creases within the composition and there appears to be scattered flecks of oil paint on the surface which are inherent to the artist's process.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present work is a preliminary study for Norman Rockwell's painting Christmas Homecoming (Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, Massachusetts), which appeared on the cover of the December 25, 1948 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. The image is the only one in the artist's oeuvre in which all five members of his immediate family appear and are portrayed as themselves. Rockwell's wife, Mary, embraces their eldest son, Jarvis, as he arrives home for the holidays with Christmas presents in hand. In the background, the artist appears with a pipe while the middle son Tom (in a plaid shirt) and the youngest son Peter (wearing glasses at the far left) look on excitedly. Grandma Moses, the artist, and Mead Schaeffer, the illustrator, are also rendered as family members alongside neighbors and friends. One of Rockwell's favorite models, Sharon O'Neil, appears twice as a set of twins in the immediate foreground.