The Optician by Norman Rockwell

May 19, 1956 Issue of The Saturday Evening Post

The Optician, a Norman Rockwell painting, appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post published May 19, 1956. This is another timeless favorite of Rockwell collectors, a classic for all the ages.

This painting was Rockwell's 290th 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 second cover for The Post in 1956. In 1956, there were five Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post covers published.

The original oil on canvas painting, 38.875 x 32 inches or 99 x 81.5 cm, is part of the collection of the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown, Maryland.

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

• as illustration 22 of Norman Rockwell's America by Christopher Finch,
• as illustration 513 of Norman Rockwell: Artist and Illustrator by Thomas Buechner and
• on page 209 of Norman Rockwell, A Definitive Catalogue by Laurie Norton Moffatt.

Two studies also appear in the Norman Rockwell Catalogue on pages 209 and 210.

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.

The Optician

Norman Rockwell captures one of the things we dislike about growing older.

It never fails. As we grow older, our eyesight starts changing. Some of us cannot see far away with enough clarity to get our schoolwork accomplished.

This boy may be having trouble seeing the blackboard at school. Or he may be visiting this glasses doctor because he cannot see the baseball from a distance.

Whatever the reason, he seems really unhappy that he needs glasses.

It doesn't matter whether he will be a better ball player now that he can see the ball.

What matters is that now his friends will be calling him Four-eyes and other names that kids use when they pick on the kids who wear spectacles.

Of course, some of those kids will think that he looks smarter, too. That doesn't enter his mind now, in this moment of truth.

The sparcity of detail in this professional office allows Rockwell to focus on the characters.

The doctor is absolutely delighted to be able to help the young man see more clearly, even if his customer is not happy at all.

The boy was modeled by Kenneth Ingram who was first seen in the painting Construction Crew.

Norman Rockwell's The Optician (1956)
(Image Only) Copyright © 1956 Saturday Evening Post & Curtis Publishing Company