April Fool: Checkers by Norman Rockwell

April 3, 1943 Issue of The Saturday Evening Post

April Fool: Checkers, a Norman Rockwell painting, appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post published April 3, 1943. This is another favorite of Rockwell collectors, a classic enduring image of the world Rockwell painted.

This painting was Rockwell's 213th overall out of 322 total paintings that were published on the cover of the Saturday Evening 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.

This was also the first cover for The Post in 1943. In 1943, there were five Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post covers published.

The original oil on board painting, 11.5 x 11.5 inches or 29 x 29 cm, is part of a private collection.

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

• on pages 323 and 332 of Norman Rockwell 332 Magazine Covers by Christopher Finch
• on page 320 of Norman Rockwell's autobiography, My Adventures as an Illustrator
• on page 43 of The Norman Rockwell Album
• on page 115 of Norman Rockwell by Karal Ann Marling
• on page 85 of Norman Rockwell: A Sixty Year Retrospective by Thomas Buechner
• as illustration 371 of Norman Rockwell: Artist and Illustrator by Thomas Buechner and
• on page 152 of Norman Rockwell, A Definitive Catalogue by Laurie Norton Moffatt.

Pristine original copies of this magazine cover routinely sell for big bucks on eBay, when it is offered. And to think it only cost ten cents originally! And it was mint condition then, too.

April Fool: Checkers

This painting was the first of three Norman Rockwell April Fool covers.

Rockwell conceived of the April Fool paintings as a way ofsnubbing his nose at critics, both helpful and otherwise, who invariably wrote him about his cover paintings.

Rarely was a painting published that some well-meaning person did not write to correct some minor or even glaring error that they had found in the painting.

Of course, Rockwell was well known as a realist and this probably irritated him. He spent a lot of time and energy making sure that the portrayals in his paintings were accurate.

So, in 1943, he came up with the idea that he would purposely paint a scene with as many absurdities and mistakes as he could imagine.

He certainly succeeded at that with this painting.

Rockwell actually had people writing in to point mistakes in this painting as well. Maybe that is what they meant by April Fool.

Take a minute out of your schedule to see how many mistakes you can find. Respond below to see your observations published on this website.

Norman Rockwell's April Fool: Checkers (1943)
(Image Only) Copyright © 1943 Saturday Evening Post & Curtis Publishing Company