Puppy Love by Norman Rockwell

April 24, 1926 Issue of The Saturday Evening Post

Puppy Love, a painting by Norman Rockwell, appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post published April 24, 1926. This is another timeless favorite of Rockwell collectors, a classic for the ages.

The official title for this illustration is Boy and Girl Gazing at Moon, but I have always heard it referred to as Puppy Love, so that is why I named this article with the more popular alternate title. Other alternate titles for this painting include Little Spooners, First Love and Sunset.

This painting was Rockwell's fourth cover for The Post in 1926. In 1926, there were ten Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post covers published.

This was also Rockwell's 86th cover illustration out of 322 Rockwell painted for the Post. Rockwell's career with the Post spanned 47 years, from his first cover illustration, Boy With Baby Carriage in 1916 to his last, Portrait of John F. Kennedy, in 1963.

The original oil on canvas painting, 24 x 20 inches or 61 x 51 cm, is owned by a private collector.

This painting also appears in three Rockwell commentary books. It appears:

• on page 36 of The Norman Rockwell Album,
• as illustration 217 of Norman Rockwell: Artist and Illustrator by Thomas Buechner and
• on page 103 of Norman Rockwell, A Definitive Catalogue by Laurie Norton Moffatt.

I have seen pristine original copies of this magazine cover sell for well over one hundred dollars on eBay. And to think it only cost five cents originally! And it was mint condition then, too.

Puppy Love

This classic Norman Rockwell painting shows two young sweethearts sitting together on a wooden bench gazing at the sunset.

This is one of those romantic images that Rockwell often evoked with his paintings. Two young people in love are seated on a bench watching the sun set. What could be more idyllic?

What more needs to be said? Well, you know me!

My eye is first drawn to the details. The most noticeable thing that catches my eye is how the young man has his arm wrapped around the object of his affections. The next thing I notice is how she is nestled up next to him.

Rockwell has captured exactly how lovers sit together when enjoying one another's company. I wonder whether or not the models he used for the illustration were actually sweethearts. If not, they were excellent actors and coached well by the artist.

We cannot see the faces of the young lovers, so we have to guess at their approximate ages. I do not believe they are teeenagers yet. I believe they are younger.

After the children, I notice how the bench the couple are sitting on looks to be homemade. Little Spooners was published during the Roaring Twenties. Economic times were generally good. Still this young boy has crafted a bench out of two lengths of wood, probably firewood borrowed from his parents, and a modest piece of lumber. The piece of lumber is so thin that it is bowing in the middle under the weight of the two young people. Of course, thet just makes it easier to snuuggle closer.

The poor little dog looks sad that he has been abandoned by the boy for a two legged friend. He is pawing near the boy's discarded fishing pole as if to say "let's go" to his master. But the boy is not thinking about fishing or his puppy.

But how long does Puppy Love last, you might ask? It lasts as long as it is enjoyable. Enjoy it!

Puppy Love was also recently seen on Google's home page in the form of a Google Doodle. Google was honoring Norman Rockwell on what would have been his 116th birthday on February 3, 2010.

More details are available here and at The Christian Science Monitor, The Simple Thoughts Blog, Daily Bloger,The Berkshire Eagle, The About-Knowledge Blog, Left Coast Rebel Blog, Frugal Cafe and the Parkwest Gallery.