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The Funny Mirror by Norman Rockwell

The Funny Mirror by Norman Rockwell    

Norman Rockwell Signature


August 13, 1921 Issue of The Saturday Evening Post


The Funny Mirror, this Norman Rockwell painting, appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post published August 13, 1921.

An alternate title for this painting is Distortion.

This painting was Rockwell's forty-first overall picture out of 322 total featured on the cover of The 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.

It is also the fifth Rockwell cover in 1921. The Post featured a Rockwell illustration on its cover seven times in 1921.

The location of the original painting is not known.

This illustration has been reproduced in two Rockwell commentary books, as illustration 143 of Norman Rockwell: Artist and Illustrator by Thomas Buechner and on page 86 of Norman Rockwell, A Definitive Catalogue by Laurie Norton Moffatt.

This cover is extremely hard to find in excellent condition. In addition, almost every copy I have even seen has had the mailing label affixed over part of the illustration. Expect to pay more for a pristine copy of this Rockwell classic.

The Funny Mirror

Wow, that is one funny-looking boy in that mirror!

In this painting, Norman Rockwell shows us another joy of childhood, the carnival.

This boy is wandering through the Fun House. He rounds a corner and sees himself in this mirror.

The image of himself with a different body shape is hilarious. And he is obviously emjoying the view.

His legs and lower torso are longer. His head and upper torso are more compressed. He looks much taller.

Museum Quality Prints

Available as Stretched Canvas Prints:
8 x 10 Stretched Canvas Print
13 x 16 Stretched Canvas Print
18 x 22 Stretched Canvas Print

And as Giclee Print on Archival Paper:
12 x 14 Giclee Print
17 x 20 Giclee Print
22 x 26 Giclee Print

He has dropped the stick his balloon is tied to.

He holds a sucker in his left hand. It looks big in the mirror. I wonder if it is bigger or smaller in the mirror. You know how big carnival suckers are.

Just imagine how hard it must have been for Rockwell to get that reflection in the mirror just right. This painting was conceived and painted long before he started using phootographs to capture the characters and scenes he wanted to paint.

After this painting, Rockwell stuck to using regular mirrors in his illustrations!


The August 13, 1921 Saturday Evening Post cover by Norman Rockwell entitled The Funny Mirror

Norman Rockwell's The Funny Mirror (1921)
Copyright © 1921 Saturday Evening Post & Curtis Publishing Company

See Them All!
Take the Rockwell Saturday Evening Post Cover Tour

  Boy Holding Screaming Baby from the July 9, 1921 Saturday Evening Post cover
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For more information and special deals related to any of the issues on the page, simply place your cursor over the orange double-underlined links. All information supplied by Kontera.com.



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