Norman Rockwell (American, 1894-1978). On My Honor, 1953. Oil on canvas. 46 x 34 inches (116.8 x 86.4 cm). Signed lower ...

Description

Norman Rockwell (American, 1894-1978)
On My Honor, 1953
Oil on canvas
46 x 34 inches (116.8 x 86.4 cm)
Signed lower right: Norman / Rockwell

Property from the BSA Settlement Trust, Sold for the Benefit of Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

LITERATURE:
Boy Scouts of America Calendar, Brown & Bigelow Co., Saint Paul, Minnesota, 1953, n.p., illustrated;
Boys' Life Magazine, The Boy Scouts of America, New York, February 1953, cover;
R.D. Bezucha, Book of Scouting, The Golden Anniversary, New York, 1959, cover (detail illustrated);
W. Hillcourt, Norman Rockwell's World of Scouting, New York, 1977, p. 143, illustrated;
M. Moline, Norman Rockwell Encyclopedia, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1979, p. 226, fig. 8-36, illustrated;
L.N. Moffatt, Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, Vol. I, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1986, pp. 280-81, no. A73, illustrated;
J. Csatari, Norman Rockwell's Boy Scouts of America, New York, 2009, pp. 62-63, illustrated.

By the 1930s the Boy Scouts initiated an expansion to its programs, building its membership to encompass Cub Scouting for younger boys and Senior Scouting which included divisions for older boys like Sea Scouting, Air Scouting and eventually Exploring. Rockwell's annual calendar paintings for Brown & Bigelow began to incorporate figures from each of these programs, demonstrating a show of force among the multi-generational Boy Scouts organization.

Each of the three figures in On My Honor belong to different divisions of Scouting-the young boy at center is the junior Cub Scout in his blue and yellow fatigues; the boy holding the BSA flag at far right is a member of the Boy Scouts of America wearing his signature green khaki uniform synonymous with the organization; and the young man standing tallest is an Exploring Scout clad in a uniform that has matured into a more streamlined dark-blue suit, substituting the classic scout neckerchief for a slim necktie. The two older boys demonstrate the evolution of the Boy Scouts uniform, no longer wearing the broad-brimmed campaign hat from the 1940s, they don tighter caps reminiscent of the headwear worn by GI soldiers in World War II.

The Scouts stand in front of a background inscribed with The Scout Oath and a towering image of the Liberty Bell. This formation of the three scouts appeared in a different format on the cover of the Golden Anniversary Book of Scouting published in 1959. The senior scouts stand holding up the three-finger salute which represents the three pillars of The Scout Oath inscribed behind them-Duty to God and Country; Duty to Others; and Duty to Self. The dutiful scouts are silhouetted against a diverse landscape-America's rural farmlands decorated with a church spire in the foreground as well as its towering concrete cities brightly beckoning in the distance.

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake and morally straight.
- The Scout Oath


More information about Norman Rockwell. See also: Rockwell, Norman, Rockwell, Norman Perceval Artist.

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