annual report 2oo3–2oo4 Quebec PFIZERCORCORAN STOCKBRIDGE Red Rose Girls 18th Annual Berkshire County High School ArtP Show MOI! ar is Hometown Hero WASHINGTON DC Women in Illustration kjfoie raojfksajfe front cover 1 president’s letter We are pleased to present our Annual tial staff achievements and progress this Report for the 2003-2004 program year . year, in a climate of such constrained a report filled with accounts of mar- resources, is that the entire staff has velous exhibitions and programs . worked very hard, and very long, with local, national, international . of commitment and dedication that would continuing expert scholarship . and be difficult to ever repay, to ensure that of enthusiastic visions for our future. the Museum continues to advance in pursuit of its important mission. As you all well know, the last few years have presented significant financial Therefore, on behalf of the Board of challenges to cultural institutions Trustees, to whom I also extend my across the country given the perform- personal gratitude for their generous ance of the economy and the financial contributions of time, talent and markets, and reductions in travel and financial support, I salute and applaud tourism. This fact of our national life the outstanding achievements of our has forced us to reduce our annual wonderful staff and volunteers. Thank budget during this period by over 25%, you, thank you! which makes the achievements of our talented staff all the more remarkable. With the ongoing dedicated leadership of our staff and trustees, and the much Nevertheless, we operated this year with- appreciated support of our National in a reduced, but balanced, budget as a Council and Illustrators Advisory, our consequence of careful planning and Museum is in good hands, financially prudent management of our limited sound, and well positioned to continue resources. The astute leadership of our to vigorously present and promote the remarkable Director and CEO Laurie important legacy and lessons of Norton Moffatt, supported by her team Norman Rockwell’s art … as well as of talented Associate Directors, a dedicat- the broader field of the illustration arts. ed staff, and a wonderful group of volunteers led to this outcome. Of course, what must be especially Lee Williams appreciated in recognizing the substan- President 1 in memoriam We wish to recognize the life, work, and friendship of trustee Jan Cohn, who passed away this year. Jan was a professor of American Literature at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. Her scholarship included Norman Rockwell, art history, The Saturday Evening Post and mass media. She was in the process of curating an exhibition on The Image of the American Child for the Museum. Jan was a respected and distinguished scholar who brought academic distinction to the Museum. Her friendship and vision will be greatly missed. Lee Williams and Laurie Norton Moffatt Portrait by Zhou Shu Liang 2 director’s letter Paris, Montreal, Boston, Washington, Alice Carter, professor of illustration art D.C., Stockbridge, what an exciting year! at the University of California in San It was a year rich with Rockwell, a year Jose, and Stephanie Plunkett. A rich of wonderful illustration art, a year of assemblage of the pivotal work of Jessie national partnerships and programs, a Willcox Smith, Elizabeth Shippen year of artistic collaborations and of Green and Violet Oakley, it was the meeting many new friends. Visitors first retrospective of these distinguished around the world enjoyed Norman women illustrators who painted at the Rockwell’s art and humanitarian message. turn of the 20th century. Many of the works were lent from the Eisenstat exhibitions Collection of Art, as well as the Library A professional accolade for Norman of Congress and the Kelly Collection of Rockwell was his inclusion in two American Art. international exhibitions in Montreal, Canada, and Paris, France. Murder in Contemporary Women in Illustration Mississippi was included in Global examined the leading-edge work of 20 Village 1960s at the Musee des Beaux of today’s best-known illustrators and Arts in Montreal, and Triple Self- contrasted the challenges and successes Portrait was selected as the signature of women in the illustration field one image for Mói! an exhibition of 20th- century after the Red Rose Girls. century artists’ self-portraits at the Visitors experienced firsthand the Musee du Luxembourg in Paris. remarkable and recognizable work of Rockwell’s self-portrait was featured today’s visual communicators. Eighty on the exhibition’s catalogue cover, works filled the Museum galleries, a invitation, the cover of Paris Match testament to the power of the visual magazine and on billboards around image in today’s world. the city. The painting will travel next to Florence, Italy, where the exhibit A poignant series of original Rockwell will be on view at the Uffizi begin- works owned by Pfizer Inc was presented ning September 18. by the Museum in the exhibition, The Picture of Health: Paintings from the The Museum presented two exceptional Pfizer Collection. Curated by Linda Pero, exhibitions of illustration art during the the exhibition focused on the artist’s por- year—The Red Rose Girls, co-curated by trayals of the medical profession at work. 3 Created between the late 1930s and the Rockwell’s life and work in the com- early 1960s for the Upjohn Company, munities in which he lived. Rockwell’s American Optical and Warner Lambert, Vermont was the subject in 2003, fea- Rockwell’s images helped to shape the turing the work of a small cadre of public’s perception of the doctor as a important illustrators in Arlington, kind, caring, and knowledgeable profes- Vermont, during the 1940s and 1950s. sional, appearing in advertisements and Linda Pero, curator of the Norman posters for the companies. The Museum Rockwell Collections, organized both is grateful to Pfizer Inc for the privilege exhibitions. The Museum is grateful to present one of the most significant to the numerous private lenders who corporate collections of Rockwell art. shared their work with the Museum These 11 paintings provide a window for these exhibitions. into 20th-century-American health care and pharmaceutical practices. education, public programs, research and scholarship The Museum was honored to partner The programmatic highlight of the year with the Corcoran Gallery of Art in was a presentation by Ruby Bridges Washington, D.C., to commemorate Hall, whose experience as a young girl the dedication of the World War II inspired Norman Rockwell’s painting Memorial. Norman Rockwell’s Four The Problem We All Live With. She was Freedoms were the focal point of an joined by her first-grade-teacher, Barbara exhibition co-curated by Sara Cash of Henry, at the podium. Ms. Bridges Hall the Corcoran and Linda Pero of the was seeing the painting for the first Norman Rockwell Museum. Norman time at the Museum and she gave a Rockwell’s Four Freedoms: Paintings spellbinding talk at the opening of that Inspired a Nation explored Hometown Hero. She spoke of her expe- Norman Rockwell’s iconic interpreta- rience at age six of integrating the first tions of President Roosevelt’s historic public school in New Orleans following speech and the extraordinary impact the Brown v. Board of Education these images had, and continue to Supreme Court ruling. Her national have, on the nation. curriculum program, Ruby’s Bridges, strives to eliminate prejudice and teach- The year’s exhibition program culmi- es tolerance to children nationwide. nated in Stockbridge with Hometown Museum staff, under the leadership of Hero, Citizen of the World: Rockwell in Melinda Georgeson, researched and Stockbridge, the third in a trilogy of wrote a school curriculum that uses exhibitions, was generously supported Norman Rockwell’s Four Freeedoms by BerkshireBank, focusing on Norman to teach the foundation of American 4 democracy and citizenship. The Four performed at Symphony Hall in Freedoms paintings form the basis of a Boston in May and at Tanglewood national curriculum for grade-school- over the summer. The performance students, based on Norman Rockwell’s includes narration by Charles Osgood. Four Freedoms. The curriculum teach- Susan Dangelo of WGBH-Public es language arts, visual arts, social stud- Television in Boston edited the piece. ies, and character education through There are plans to make it available to Norman Rockwell’s paintings. The orchestras nationwide. curriculum was piloted by Museum staff in Washington, D.C. It awaits In conjunction with Norman Rockwell’s publication and nationwide distribu- Four Freedoms exhibition at the tion as the Museum works to raise the Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Franklin necessary funds. and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute in Hyde Park partnered with the Corcoran and A members’ tour was held in the Norman Rockwell Museum to issue Washington, D.C., in conjunction a special Medal of Freedom to Senator with the exhibition Norman Rockwell’s Robert Dole for a lifetime of service to Four Freedoms: Paintings that Inspired the country. The prestigious Four a Nation. The trip focused on the Freedoms Award recognizes outstanding monuments, documents, and memo- leaders worldwide who have given a life- rials that commemorate America’s time of service in the pursuit and protec- founding and heritage. Participants tion of freedom around the world. were treated to a very special evening with National Council members Scholarly articles were published on Richard and Mary Kelly at their beau- the Red Rose Girls, Norman Rockwell, tiful home in Falls Church, VA, that and the Norman Rockwell Museum in showcases their collection of American Art Review by guest curator American illustration. Alice Carter, curator Linda Pero, and director Laurie Norton Moffatt. Keith Lockhart, conductor of the Boston Pops, invited the Museum to collabo- Stephanie Plunkett and Laurie Norton rate on an innovative artistic partner- Moffatt participated in a forum discus- ship.