Mermaid by Norman Rockwell

August 20, 1955 Issue of The Saturday Evening Post

Mermaid, a Norman Rockwell painting, appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post published August 20, 1955. This is another timeless favorite of Rockwell collectors, a classic for all the ages.

This painting was Rockwell's 288th 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 fourth cover for The Post in 1955. In 1955, there were four Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post covers published.

The original oil on canvas painting is part of the collection of film maker Steven Spielberg and was on display at the Smithsonian's Museum of American Art in 2010.

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

• on pages 406 and 423 of Norman Rockwell 332 Magazine Covers by Christopher Finch,
• on page 151 of The Norman Rockwell Album,
• as illustration 511 of Norman Rockwell: Artist and Illustrator by Thomas Buechner and
• on page 207 of Norman Rockwell, A Definitive Catalogue by Laurie Norton Moffatt.

Two studies also appears in the Norman Rockwell Catalogue on page 208.

One study for the painting, 13.75 x 11 inches or 34.9 x 27.9 cm, brought $84,000 at auction on November 29, 2006 at Sotheby's in New York City.

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

Mermaid

Norman Rockwell really pushed the boundaries with this painting.

Most readers of the Post saw the humor, but there were some who were offended. Of course, that was bound to happen sooner or later, unless Rockwell kept painting the same subject matter all the time.

Rockwell, though, was adventurous. This painting with its almost nude mermaid is proof of that.

The mermaid was modeled by a professional model hired from New York City.

I am certain that Rockwell would have been too hesitant to ask any of his usual models, his neighbors, to pose like this. He might have been punched or slapped for even thinking of it..

One of the stories that I have read said that the photographer, Bill Scovill, working with Rockwell that day would not come out from under his black focusing cloth because of embarrassment.

Those were indeed different times, weren't they?

The Post mail department received many letters about this cover.

The ranged from a minority finding it in poor taste (11), with a few more finding it obscene (21) and the majority not thinking it obscene (245).

One man from Three Rivers, Michigan, wanted to know how and where to catch a mermaid for himself!

But what will this poor fisherman do when he gets home and his wife asks how many lobsters he caught today?

His story will be unbelievable. Then his wife will want to see.

Then, of course, he will be in trouble for not dressing his catch.

He should probably just release the mermaid. But after taking pictures. No one will believe it otherwise.

Norman Rockwell's Mermaid (1955)
(Image Only) Copyright © 1955 Saturday Evening Post & Curtis Publishing Company