Norman Rockwell (American, 1894-1978). We, Too, Have A Job to Do, 1942. Oil on canvas. 31 x 22 inches (78.7 x 55.9 cm). ...

Description

Norman Rockwell (American, 1894-1978)
We, Too, Have A Job to Do, 1942
Oil on canvas
31 x 22 inches (78.7 x 55.9 cm)
Signed lower right: Norman / Rockwell
Signed upper right: Norman / Rockwell

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

EXHIBITED:
National Scouting Museum, Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky, n.d.

LITERATURE:
Boy Scouts of America Calendar, Brown & Bigelow Co., Saint Paul, Minnesota, 1944, n.p., illustrated;
Boys' Life Magazine, The Boy Scouts of America, New York, February 1944, cover;
W. Hillcourt, Norman Rockwell's World of Scouting, New York, 1977, p. 112, illustrated;
L.N. Moffatt, Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, Vol. I, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1986, pp. 276-77, no. A64, illustrated;
J. Csatari, Norman Rockwell's Boy Scouts of America, New York, 2009, p. 44, illustrated.

On June 12, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established by executive order the Office of War Information (OWI) to persuade the American people to support the Allied forces fighting in World War II. It led to the production of numerous government-sponsored ad campaigns by America's leading artists like Thomas Hart Benton, J. Howard Miller, Ben Shahn, and chiefly among them, Norman Rockwell. Among Rockwell's commissions for the OWI was his infamous Four Freedoms series, which dutifully promoted the four freedoms Roosevelt believed to be the guiding principles supporting America's involvement in the war-Freedom of Speech, Freedom From Want, Freedom of Worship, and Freedom From Fear. The present work, We, Too, Have a Job to Do was completed by Rockwell in 1944 shortly after he finalized his monumental Four Freedoms series. The figure of a First Class Scout raises a three-finger salute to the flag behind him visually representing the Boy Scouts' commitment to the American cause during World War II and commemorates the organizations legacy in society and politics.

Upon the outbreak of World War II, The Boy Scouts of America committed significant support for the war effort and took a central role in distributing crucial government information on behalf of OWI. Leaders of the Boy Scouts, Walter W. Head and James E. West, wrote to the President in 1941 declaring their commitment, pledging "the full and whole-hearted co-operation of our organization." Their largest contribution included allocating troops to assist with the OWI's aggressive poster distribution program and, in 1942, Edward Dodd, chief of the Division of Production and Distribution at OWI, appealed to the scouts, "Officials in Washington do not know of any other way by which they can meet this emergency except through the help of the Boy Scouts of America" (Robert Ellis, "Getting the Message Out," Prologue Magazine, Summer 2005, vol. 37, no. 2, n.p.). In addition to supporting OWI's distribution efforts, The Boy Scouts of America allocated their troops to assist with the collection of scrap aluminum, rubber and rags that could be recycled and used in military supplies, growing food in their local community gardens, and volunteering as fire watchers (J. Csatari, Norman Rockwell's Boy Scouts of America, New York, 2009, p. 45).

After completing his Four Freedoms commission, Rockwell fell behind on Boy Scouts calendar submissions. Exhausted, Rockwell finished We, Too, Have a Job To Do and sent it off to his editors at BSA Headquarters. That evening, a fire broke out at the artist's studio destroying many beloved antiques, props, costumes and artworks. The subject work narrowly survived the blaze and memorialized both Rockwell's and the Boy Scouts' influence during The War Years.


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

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