Exhibition: Telling Stories
Date: Friday July 2, 2010 - Sunday January 2, 2011
Time: M-Su 11:30a - 7:00p
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM)
Visit website »
Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg
Telling Stories is the first major exhibition to explore in-depth the connections between Norman Rockwell’s iconic images of American life and the movies. Two of America’s best-known modern filmmakers—George Lucas and Steven Spielberg—recognized a kindred spirit in Rockwell and formed significant collections of his work. Rockwell’s paintings and the films of Lucas and Spielberg evoke love of country, small town values, children growing up, unlikely heroes, acts of imagination and life’s ironies.
Rockwell was a masterful storyteller who could distill a narrative into a single frame. His pictures tell stories about the adventure of growing up, of individuals rising up to face personal challenges, the glamour of Hollywood and the importance of tolerance in American life. He created his pictures with strategies similar to those used by filmmakers.
The exhibition is based on new research into Rockwell, his work and the relationships between the artist and the movies. It showcases fifty-seven major Rockwell paintings and drawings from these private collections. The museum is the only venue for the exhibition. Telling Stories is organized by Virginia M. Mecklenburg, senior curator.
A 12-minute film, co-produced by the museum and filmmaker Laurent Bouzereau, will be shown continuously in the exhibition galleries. It features interviews with Lucas and Spielberg that reveal their insights into Rockwell’s art and why certain works appealed to them.
A catalogue, published by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Abrams, accompanies the exhibition. Written by Mecklenburg with a contribution by Todd McCarthy, a film critic for Variety, the publication will be available for $65 hardcover ($35.95 softcover) in the museum store, online, and at book stores nationwide.
Free Public Programs
July 3 - 4, 2010, 1:00 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Musical performance by Airmen of Note
Thursday, July 8, 2010, 6:30 pm
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Directed by Frank Capra, (1935)
Sunday, July 18, 2010, 4:00 p.m
Musical performance by Washington Symphonic Brass
Thursday, July 22, 2010, 6:30 p.m.
Saving Private Ryan
Directed by Steven Spielberg, (1998)
Saturday, July 24, 2010, 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Scouting Family Day
Thursday, August 5, 2010, 6:30 p.m.
Talk and book signing by Ron Schick
Author of Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera
Thursday, August 12, 2010, 6:30 p.m.
State of the Union
Directed by Frank Capra, (1948)
Friday, September 24, 2010, 3:00 p.m.
Symposium—Norman Rockwell: American Art and the Movies
With Virginia Mecklenburg (American Art Museum), Katherine Manthorne (City University of New York), Erica Doss (University of Notre Dame), and James Deutsch (Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage)
Admission is free.