In fact, did you know that Rockwell was an accomplished photographer? Photography played a key part in his artistic process. Rockwell’s paintings, many of which graced the cover of The Saturday Evening Post, were like a snapshot of American life. But as we will learn, Rockwell carefully staged the photograph of “The Runaway” and his other works that became treasured American favorites. 

Beginning in 1916, the then-twenty-year-old New England artist, Norman Rockwell started a 47-year relationship with The Saturday Evening Post, one of the most popular and iconic magazines of the 1900s. By the end of his time with The Post, he had painted 321 paintings for its cover. Rockwell’s paintings were so popular because they showcased the realities of life. The faces he painted and the scenes he depicted were so lifelike that his fans could relate to them. As this colorized photograph shows, Rockwell’s paintings were so lifelike because he based them on photographs he took. 

The paintings of Norman Rockwell look like snapshots of everyday scenes from small town life, but they were not the candid photos they appeared to be. Rockwell enlisted his friends, family, neighbors, and residents of the towns he lived in – either Arlington, Vermont, or Stockbridge, Massachusetts, depending on the year – to be his models. He even approached strangers, be it a random woman at the bank or a lanky teen at a high school basketball game, to appear in his photos. Rockwell meticulously staged each photograph. He selected the setting, the outfits, and the props. He directed his models on facial expressions and positions. He moved his camera tripod around to get the best angle. 

In 1935, Norman Rockwell travelled to Hannibal, Missouri to get inspiration for the work he was doing on an illustrated edition of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Rockwell himself struggled with this question. He was ashamed of his artistic process and tried to keep it under wraps so other artists wouldn’t judge him. He somehow believed that painting from a photograph instead of from live models or his own imagination was akin to cheating. Critics today believe that the use of photography transformed his work, allowing Rockwell to expand his artistic ability. 

“The Runaway” appeared on the September 20, 1958 cover of The Saturday Evening Post. Months earlier, Norman Rockwell asked Massachusetts State Police Officer Richard J. Clemens, who lived in his neighborhood, to pose for a cover illustration for the magazine. All Clemens was told was to meet Rockwell at the Howard Johnson’s restaurant. There Clemens was introduced to the other two models, 8-year-old Eddie Locke, and Clarence Barret, a local mechanic. Rockwell was friends with Barret and with Locke’s father. At the restaurant’s lunch counter, Rockwell positioned the boy and the police officer with their backs to the camera. He even brought a few props, notably the handkerchief tied to a stick that was placed on the floor by the boy. Satisfied with the photograph he took, Rockwell went to work on the painting. He made some important adjustments as he worked. He omitted all references to Howard Johnson’s in the image. He also replaced Barret, who modeled as the counter worker in the photo. His face was replaced with that of Don Johnson, Rockwell’s assistant. He photographed Johnson individually and added him into the painting. When you compare the colorized version of Rockwell’s original photograph with the final painting as it appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, you can see the differences. 

The supervisors at the Massachusetts State Police were thrilled to see one of their own on the cover of a famous, national magazine. Posters were made of the image and sent to law enforcement agencies around the country. To thank Clemens for his time, Rockwell painted a portrait of Clemens wearing his trooper hat and presented it to him. Clemens’s bosses at the state police loved it so much that they used the image on their annual Christmas cards. 

Nearly all of Norman Rockwell’s photographs that served as the inspiration for his Saturday Evening Post covers still exist. Many of them are housed at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Unlike the colorized photograph at the top of this page, they remain in their original black and white format. Viewing them side by side with the final Saturday Evening Post covers gives us insight into Rockwell as an artist. We can see the artistic decisions that he made along the way, which allows us to understand him as an artist better, as a whole.