Boy and Girl Singing by Norman Rockwell

July 1919 Issue of American

Boy and Girl Singing, this Norman Rockwell painting, appeared on the cover of American published July 1919.

This was the fourth picture painted by Rockwell to appear on the American Magazine cover. American Magazine published only seven Rockwell illustrated covers, between 1918 and 1923.

Rockwell only submitted to this and other smaller magazines after the publishers of the larger magazines had declined to publish the illustration.

Most likey, the smaller magazines wanted Rockwell's signature and art on the cover to provide a boost in newstand sales. The artist was already very popular by the time this cover appeared.

Clearly, Rockwell's first choice of publication was The Saturday Evening Post. He believed that the Post cover was America's biggest showcase window for artists. Of course, his career confirmed this.

The location of the original oil painting and even whether it still exists is unknown.

The original cover price of twenty-five cents was fairly reasonable for a monthly published magazine of the era. The weekly publications of the time, such as the Post, Life and the Literary Digest were usually five cents.

Boy and Girl Singing

In this painting, Rockwell revisits a familiar theme.

This painting shows a pair of children singing. We do not know if they are singing in school or church.

During the era that this picture depicts, children often wore their good clothes to school. If this were a picture from a modern era, we would assume that they were singing in church or, if at school, that theye were singing in a program, not in a class.

The boy is wearing a tie and one of his best collars. He is singing with great gusto. It almost looks like he is trying to impress the girl with his singing ability and volume.

The girl looks more calm and collected than the boy looks. She is holding the song book. She looks like she is concentrating on her singing than on her companion.

The question that this painting raises is whether the girl can sing on key with the boy singing in her ear.

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The Party Favor	The Valedictorian	Boys Playing Leapfrog
Boy Chasing Dog With Pants	Boy Asleep With Hoe	Man Leaving Work to Go Golfing
Boy on Stilts	Grandfather and Snowman

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