Mark Twain Museum

Hannibal, Missouri

The Mark Twain Museum in Hannibal, MO, features several original Norman Rockwell paintings in its permanent collection.

While not strictly a Norman Rockwell museum, I have included it because it contains many very important original Norman Rockwell paintings among its collections of artwork and artifacts.

As any Rockwell art collector knows, he painted illustrations from Mark Twain's classics during the middle phase of his career.

The sixteen original paintings created to illustrate Twain's classic tales of growing up on the Mississippi River during the Nineteenth century are all owned by the Mark Twain Museum and are on display for the public to see and enjoy.

Sounds like a plan for a vacation to me!

Mark Twain Museum: Eight Original Norman Rockwell Tom Sawyer Paintings

The following original Norman Rockwell paintings from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain are on display at the Mark Twain Museum. The Norman Rockwell illustrated edition of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was originally published in 1936 by Heritage Press, New York.

• Tom Sawyer: Whitewashing the Fence, a 17.5 x 13.75 inches or 44.5 x 35 cm oil on canvas is captioned "Well, I don't see why I oughtn't to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?" This painting originally appeared as the frontispiece of the The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.


• Tom Sawyer: Dog and Beetle, a 25 x 20.5 inches or 63.5 x 52 cm oil on canvas is captioned "He spied the beetle; the drooping tail lifted and wagged." This illustration originally appeared on page 26 of the book.


• Tom Sawyer: Dead Cat, a 25 x 20 inches or 63.5 x 51 cm oil on canvas, is captioned "Lemme see him, Huck. My, he's pretty stiff!" This painting originally appeared on page 61 of the book.


• Tom Sawyer: Schoolmaster Flogging Tom Sawyer, a 25 x 20 inches or 63.5 x 51 cm oil on canvas, is captioned "The master's arm performed until it was tired and the stock of switches notably diminished." This picture originally appeared on page 92 of the book.


• Tom Sawyer: Tom Sawyer Sneaking Out Window, a 25 x 20 inches or 63.5 x 51 cm oil on canvas, is captioned "He meow'd with caution once or twice." This illustration originally appeared on page 125 of the book.


• Tom Sawyer: Aunt Polly Giving Tom Sawyer Medicine, a 25 x 20 inches or 63.5 x 51 cm oil on canvas, is captioned "She calculated his capacity as she would a jug's and filled him up every day with quack cure-alls." This painting originally appeared on page 156 of the book.


• Tom Sawyer: Huck Teaching Tom and Joe to Smoke, a 25 x 21 inches or 63.5 x 53.5 cm oil on canvas, is captioned "Both boys were looking very pale and miserable." This illustration originally appeared on page 189 of the book.


• Tom Sawyer: Tom and Becky Lost in Cave, a 25 x 20 inches or 63.5 x 51 cm oil on canvas, is captioned "Tom, Tom, we're lost! We're lost!" This picture originally appeared on page 220 of the book.

Mark Twain Museum: Eight Original Norman Rockwell Huck Finn Paintings

The following original Norman Rockwell paintings from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain are also on display at the Mark Twain Museum. The Norman Rockwell illustrated edition of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was originally published in 1940 by Heritage Press, New York.

• Huckleberry Finn: Huck Entering His Room, a 25 x 20.5 inches or 63.5 x 52 cm oil on canvas painting , is captioned "When I lit my candle and went up to my room that night, there sat Pap - his own self." This painting originally appeared as the frontispiece of the The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.


• Huckleberry Finn: Huck Finn Praying in the Closet, a 25 x 20.5 inches or 63.5 x 52 cm oil on canvas, is captioned "Then Miss Watson took me into the closet and prayed, but nothing come of it." This illustration originally appeared on page 28 of the book.


• Huckleberry Finn: Jim Listening to Hairball, a 25 x 20.5 inches or 63.5 x 52 cm oil on canvas, is captioned "Jim got down on his hands and knees, and put his ear against it and listened." This picture originally appeared on page 62 of the book.


• Huckleberry Finn: Threading the Needle, a 25 x 20.5 inches or 63.5 x 52 cm oil on canvas, is captioned "My hands shook, and I was making a bad job of it." This painting originally appeared on page 94 of the book.


• Huckleberry Finn: King and Duke on Raft, a 25 x 20.5 inches or 63.5 x 52 cm cm oil on canvas, is captioned "Your eyes is lookin' at this very moment on the pore disappeared Dauphin, Looy the Seventeen." This illustration originally appeared on page 159 of the book.


• Huckleberry Finn: King and Duke Crying, a 25 x 20.5 inches or 63.5 x 52 cm cm oil on canvas, is captioned "Then for three minutes, or maybe four, I never seen two men leak the way they done." This picture originally appeared on page 190 of the book.


• Huckleberry Finn: Huck Talking to Mary Jane, a 25 x 20.5 inches or 63.5 x 52 cm oil on canvas, is captioned "Miss Mary Jane, you can;t abear to see people in trouble, and I can't - most always. Tell me about it." This illustration originally appeared on page 255 of the book.


• Huckleberry Finn: Aunt Sally Frightened by a Snake, a 25 x 20.5 inches or 63.5 x 52 cm oil on canvas, is captioned "There warn't no harm in them; but that never made no difference to Aunt Sally; she despised snakes, be the breed what they might." This painting originally appeared on page 286 of the book.

In addition to these original Norman Rockwell paintings, the Museum also has Mark Twain's Oxford gown, and many other priceless artifacts.

This Museum is definitely worth a visit.

The New Rochelle Library in New Rochelle, New York, also has several charcoal on paper studies for most of the paintings mentioned above.

About The Mark Twain Museum

The Museum is open seven days a week throughout the year, except closed on New Year's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

The admission fee is $9 for adults, $7.50 for seniors (60 and over), $4 for children (6 to 12), children under 6 admitted free. Discounted admission is available for groups of 20 or more.

Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum
120 North Main Street
Hannibal, Missouri

Phone (573) 221-9010

Visit the museum website. (Opens new window.)