NORMAN ROCKWELL | BOY HIDING UNDER COUCH SNEEZING (THE SNEEZING SPY)

Private collection, Honolulu, Hawaii

Acquired by the present owner from the above

The Saturday Evening Post, October 1, 1921, cover illustration © SEPS licensed by Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN. All rights reserved.

Dr. Donald Stoltz and Marshall L. Stoltz, Norman Rockwell and ‘The Saturday Evening Post:’ The Later Years, 1943-1971, New York, 1976, p. 85, illustrated p. 86

Mary Moline, Norman Rockwell Encyclopedia: A Chronological Catalogue of the Artist’s Work, 1910-1978, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1979, p. 40, illustrated fig. 1-151

Laurie Norton Moffatt, Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, vol. I, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1986, no. C231, p. 87, illustrated

Jan Cohn, Covers of “The Saturday Evening Post:" Seventy Years of Outstanding Illustration from America’s Favorite Magazine, New York, 1995, illustrated p. 101

Appearing on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post in October 1921, Boy Hiding Under Couch Sneezing (The Sneezing Spy) reflects the central role that the theme of young romance played in Norman Rockwell’s body of work. The teenage couple the artist depicts here appeared in several of his illustrations from the 1920s, allowing the audience to follow the progression of their courtship.

In the present work, Rockwell employs his characteristic sympathetic humor to illustrate a moment when the lovers are suddenly disturbed by a younger brother who has been hiding beneath the couch. Rockwell infuses the scene with rich details, such as the Chinese drapery strewn over the arm of the daybed, and successfully incorporates the magazine's standard cover format to create a fully realized scene, transporting his viewer to a specific time and place. Boy Hiding Under Couch Sneezing (The Sneezing Spy) demonstrates not only the full extent of the artist’s technical precision and masterful draftsmanship, but also his seemingly limitless imagination, making it a remarkable example of Rockwell’s unparalleled ability to elevate commercial endeavors into the aesthetic realm. 

Please note this lot is accompanied by a copy of the October 1, 1921 edition of The Saturday Evening Post, for which the present work served as the cover illustration.