“Freedom of Thought”…a painting that became a famous icon

Sharjah: Aladdin Mahmood

American painter Norman Rockwell, “1894-1978”, gained great fame as he is considered one of the greatest artists. He was born on the West Side of Manhattan and showed creative talent from his childhood as his mother observed. The first drawings of warships at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, a sign of a strong future talent, indeed, his father had a literary sense, and he read many and varied books, especially the classic works and novels of the author Charles Dickens. He would read aloud to the family, and Rockwell Junior enjoyed drawing characters from novels he imagined in his mind and turning them into drawings.

Because of his passion for drawing, Rockwell attended the Chase School of Applied Arts during his high school years, which was open on Wednesdays and Saturdays. In his final year of high school, he decided to drop out. Studying “hard,” he enrolled at the National Academy of Design, which qualified him, he enrolled in art college and got what he wanted in 1910. Later, his work matured and became widely distributed. Among the public, they appeared on birthday cards and official American events. He was offered the position of director of a magazine associated with the Boy Scouts of America, which he accepted, and Rockwell introduced him into his life. Many works of art and timeless paintings. .

The painting “Freedom of Expression” is one of Rockwell’s most important works, painted in oil colors, and is the first of his other works to focus on the goals and slogans known as the “Four Freedoms”. Franklin Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, expressed the artist’s preferences and belonged to his movement. The artist, the undisputed artist of the American people in the 20th century, adopted a simple method of recording his thoughts, observations and writings. He occupied the throne of this popular art specialty, known as illustration, and was concerned with the printed illustration, often executed in a realistic, exploratory style, and the rules of art and universal skills were very complete. And it becomes a work with all the characteristics of fine art. As with many of Rockwell’s works, it may reach the quality of fine museum art, which he enlarged in oil colors in the finest form of fine art. The artist reached the peak of his genius in the fifties and sixties of the last century, when his paintings, monopolized by the international magazines “Saturday Evening” and “Shahid”, were printed in millions. On their covers, later many art and media were simultaneously published in posters, folders, books and cards, as well as through specialized companies, and in this way, many of the artist’s works were printed. , which increased his popularity. His paintings have been described as conscious, intelligent snapshots, popular wisdom and proverbs, and this painting belongs to the conscience of the people as much as to “freedom of opinion”.

Background

This painting is part of a series of paintings inspired by President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 address to the nation in which he spoke about human rights, called the Four Freedoms of Speech, and included the 4 basic freedoms a person should enjoy: (Freedom of Thought, Freedom of Belief, Freedom of Demand and freedom from fear) and these should be enjoyed by every human being in the world, and the President of the United States at the time believed that these freedoms formed the basis of an office. -War World Order Roosevelt summed up the democratic values ​​behind America’s bipartisan consensus, and this famous passage from the speech exemplifies these values: “For men do not live by bread alone, so they do not fight by arms alone,” in the second half of the speech on economic opportunity, employment It details the benefits of democracy such as opportunity, social security, “adequate health care,” and of the four freedoms, the only two freedoms described in the United States Constitution are freedom of expression and freedom of worship, while the meaning of the four freedoms was eventually incorporated into the Atlantic Charter and the United Nations Charter.

effect

The speech had a great influence on intellectuals, artists and creatives, including Rockwell, who transformed the meanings and ideas of the speech into 4 paintings, considered icons in America, which were published in the magazine in 1943. “Saturday Evening,” along with an essay showing and clarifying works written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Booth Tarkington, in addition to many other well-known authors. These works were converted into posters and stamps. Popular, the artist was celebrated by experts and the public until he was named the leader of popular art, and his paintings and works of art were widely accepted as a symbol.

The painting “Freedom of Thought” depicts a scene of a meeting in a small local town. The picture shows a man named Jim Edgerton, who is giving a speech to the people in the town where the old school was burned down. He wanted to build a new one in its place, and after the meeting, Edgerton gave a speech to the working-class youth because he was a “blue-collar” person. That is, working people. He appears in the painting wearing a patterned shirt and deerskin jacket, his hands are dirty and his skin is darker than the other participants, while the others wear white shirts, ties and jackets. Although they appear more elegant than the speaker, they are more interested in the speech. Edgerton portrays Gill in the painting. Young people, he looks younger than the rest of the audience, and he stands tall with an open mouth and bright eyes. Or perhaps his fears were overshadowed by the political victories and class victories achieved in that era. rights.

details

This pose of the young speaker has multiple meanings, and some critics point out that Edgerton is depicted in this painting as being too close to US President Abraham Lincoln. Bruce Cole, writer and editor of the Wall Street Journal, notes that the subject of the pre-speech meeting in the painting is discussing the city’s annual report, while the art Critic John Updike pointed out that the work was painted. Without any pictorial brush, the critic Robert Scholes says the work shows the speaker’s deep interest and admiration for the public.