th anniversary of d-day

4 JUNE TO 27 OCTOBER 2019

P R E S S K I T75th ANNIVERSARY of D-Day

E X H I B I T I O N

ROOSEVELT&ROCKWELL,

The Four Freedoms

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THE ARTWORKS SHOWN

EXHIBITION OVERVIEW

EXHIBITION SUPPORT

ADMISSION AND RESERVATIONS

NORMAN ROCKWELL AT THE CAEN MÉMORIAL

A STORY OF AMERICA

INTRODUCTION

COVER PHOTOS Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Freedom of Speech, detail, 1943.Oil on canvas, 45 ¾” x 35 ½”. Illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, February 20, 1943. Collection of Norman Rockwell Museum. © SEPS: Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN. All rights reserved. www.curtislicensing.com

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Freedom of Worship, detail, 1943.Oil on canvas, 46” x 35 ½”. Illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, February 27, 1943. Collection of Norman Rockwell Museum. © SEPS: Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN. All rights reserved. www.curtislicensing.com

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Freedom from Want, detail, 1943.Oil on canvas, 45 ¾” x 35 ½”. Illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, March 6, 1943. Collection of Norman Rockwell Museum. © SEPS: Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN. All rights reserved. www.curtislicensing.com

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Freedom from Fear, detail, 1943.Oil on canvas, 45 ¾” x 35 ½”. Illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, March 13, 1943. Collection of Norman Rockwell Museum. © SEPS: Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN. All rights reserved. www.curtislicensing.com

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3Press relations: Fanny El Hajel Kaïd / 02 31 06 06 47 / [email protected]

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The U.S. was not yet at war, although Europe and Asia were. Inspired by this speech, Norman Rockwell produced four paintings to illustrate the “Four Free-doms”. During the war, these paintings travelled the United States, raising 130 million dollars to support the war effort.These four paintings, which are among the most famous and important artworks of 20th-century America, will leave the U.S. for the first time ever. Along with

other paintings, they will be shown at the Caen Memorial for the 75th anniversary of the Allied Landings and the Battle of Normandy. The D-Day Landings on June 6, 1944, heralded the liberation of Western Eu-rope. The Battle of Normandy led to the collapse of the German army on the Western front and the liberation of Paris.

Unknown Photographer, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s annual message to Congress January 6, 1941.Digital reproduction © Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Hyde Park, New York. Hyde Park/National Archives.

On January 6, 1941, American President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave one of the most important speeches of the 20th century. It was the “Four Freedoms” speech.


« In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.The first is freedom of speech and expression - everywhere in the world.The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way - everywhere in the world.The third is freedom from want - which, translated into world terms, means economic un-derstandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants - everywhere in the world.The fourth is freedom from fear - which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor - anywhere in the world.That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb. »

From President Roosevelt's State of the Union address to Congress,

January 6, 1941.

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4 JUNE TO 27 OCTOBER 2019

In cooperation with the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, the Caen Memorial is presenting this ex-ceptional exhibition for five months. Before being shown at Caen, the exhibition was on view at the New York Historical Socie-ty, the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, and the George Washington University Museum in Washington, D.C. After travelling to Caen, it will be shown at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and then, at the Norman Rockwell Museum.Its presence in France is a major Franco- American cultural event of 2019.During the opening of the exhibition in New York on May 23, 2018, the Mayor of Caen and President of the Memorial,

Joël Bruneau, recalled the many collabora-tions of the Caen Memorial with American museums and said: “In his famous speech of January 1941, President Roosevelt gave a vision of a free world that was rid of to-talitarianism. Unfortunately his speech re-mains relevant today. So do the paintings of Norman Rockwell”. In order to host this exhibition in perfect conditions of preservation and security, the Caen Memorial and the City of Caen have undertaken significant renovations. The 15,000-square-foot temporary exhibition area will now meet international standards for exhibitions of this significance.

The Caen Mémorial - Landings and Battle of Normandy Room.

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A The exhibition “Rockwell, Roosevelt, and the Four Freedoms” is also the story of the modern history of America from the 1940s to the 1960s.

Norman Rockwell was the famous illus-trator of the Saturday Evening Post, and would have a 47-year relationship with the magazine. In this role, he observed American society with kindness and even tenderness, something that would at times be held against him.

Near the end of his life, in the 1960s, in the midst of a moral crisis in Ameri-ca, he covered topical subjects such as racism, the Vietnam War (represent-ed in “The Right To Know”), and war on poverty for Look magazine. His paintings would become more serious and above all more committed. One of the most im-portant paintings in the exhibition, “The Problem We All Live With,” published by Look in 1964, denounces racial seg-regation in America. It was inspired by Ruby Bridges, who was the first Afri-can-American child to integrate a white school in New Orleans. This exceptional painting, along with the dress of the little girl who was its model, will be shown in Caen. Original letters of support or containing insults that Rockwell received at the time will also be displayed.

The exhibition covers this entire period and thus provides an understanding of a story of America through the 50 works that are shown. Norman Rockwell died on November 8, 1978 in his town of Stockbridge, where he is buried alongside his family.

In this small American town, far from the bustle of New York City, he lived and worked, often finding models or subjects for his paintings among his fellow citizens.

Norman Rockwell’s Stockbridge studio.© Norman Rockwell Museum Collection

Left to right: Norman Rockwell Museum President Anne Morgan, US President Barack Obama, Ruby Bridges, and Norman Rockwell Museum Director/CEO Laurie Norton Moffatt view Rockwell’s “The Problem We All Live With,” hanging in a West Wing hallway near the Oval Office, July 15, 2011. Bridges inspired Rockwell’s illustration, and Morgan was an original Rockwell model. © Official White House Photo by Pete Souza. All rights reserved.

Norman Rockwell’s grave in Stockbridge.© Daniel Fouray / Ouest-France


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The exhibition begins in the 1930s and continues into the war period. During this time, Norman Rockwell worked for The Saturday Evening Post. The first section of the exhibition is de-voted to Rockwell’s commitment to supporting the American war effort. Various art works are on view, including the very popular “Willie Gillis”, a simple GI featured on the covers of the Sat-urday Evening Post, but especially the

“Four Freedoms,” four exceptional paint-ings inspired by President Roosevelt’s speech of January 6, 1941, less than a year before the U.S. entered the war. This section ends with a series of paint-ings produced at the end of the war on the theme of the soldier's return home to his family. Rockwell’s paintings always strove to show that the United States formed a solid community united around their soldiers and a democratic ideal.

“Now I have a crazy urge to paint contem-porary subjects: civil rights, anti-poverty programs...”

Norman Rockwell, 1963.

The year 1964 marked a turning point in the artist's life. He left the Saturday Evening Post to work for Look magazine. This section of the exhibition is organ-ized around the issue of civil rights that was addressed in the famous painting “The Problem We All Live With”. The

exhibition also deals with the issue of Norman Rockwell's humanist commit-ment, which is illustrated by his artworks “Golden Rule” and “United Nations”. The 1965 painting “Murder in Mississippi” is also on view, which is very different from the painter's other work; Norman Rockwell shows a lynching committed in Mississippi in all its horror and brutality.The exhibition ends with the artist's reflection on American society as it con-fronted the Vietnam War and on the hope for peace in the Middle East.

Norman Rockwell and America at WarFIRST SECTION OF THE EXHIBITION

Engaged in the Fight for Civil RightsSECOND SECTION OF THE EXHIBITION

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Freedom of Speech, 1943. Oil on canvas, 45 ¾” x 35 ½”. Illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, February 20, 1943. Collection of Norman Rockwell Museum. © SEPS: Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN. All rights reserved. www.curtislicensing.com

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Freedom of Worship, 1943. Oil on canvas, 46” x 35 ½”. Illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, February 27, 1943. Collection of Norman Rockwell Museum. © SEPS: Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN. All rights reserved. www.curtislicensing.com

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Freedom from Want, 1943. Oil on canvas, 45 ¾” x 35 ½”. Illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, March 6, 1943. Collection of Norman Rockwell Museum. © SEPS: Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN. All rights reserved. www.curtislicensing.com

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Freedom from Fear, 1943. Oil on canvas, 45 ¾” x 35 ½”. Illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, March 13, 1943. Collection of Norman Rockwell Museum. © SEPS: Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN. All rights reserved. www.curtislicensing.com


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These four paintings have their own special story. During the war, Norman Rockwell, like Tex Avery, Walt Disney, Charlie Chaplin, Frank Capra, Ernst Lubitsch, Clark Gable, and Arthur Szyk, participated in the war effort.Thanks to these four paintings that travelled America during World War II - the “War Bond Shows” - 132 million dollars were raised.Norman Rockwell painted them - not without some difficulty - in 1943, at the height of American military involvement in Asia and soon in Europe.

FOUR PAINTINGS FOR THE FIRST TIME OUT OF THE UNITED STATES

Photograph of Norman Rockwell with “Freedom of Speech” painting at Four Freedoms War Bond Show, 1943.Photographer unknown. Collection of Norman Rockwell Museum. © Norman Rockwell Family Agency. All rights reserved.


Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) Freedom of Speech, 1943Oil on canvas, 45 ¾” x 35 ½”. Illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, February 20, 1943. Collection of Norman Rockwell Museum. ©SEPS: Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN. All rights reserved. www.curtislicensing.com

To illustrate this freedom, Norman Rockwell was inspired by a scene that he had recently witnessed: during a town-hall meeting, a man stood up to speak about a topic on the agenda. It was regarding the closing of a school. He did not obtain the agreement of the room, but the other citizens who were present listened to him respectfully, without interrupting him.

Rockwell used one of his neighbors as a model for this man, who rep-resented freedom of speech. His leather jacket will also be on display.

THE FOUR

FREEDOMSSpeaking of the Four Freedoms,

Rockwell said: “It was a job

that should have been tackled by Michelangelo”.

The painter devoted 7 months

to producing these paintings.

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Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) Freedom of Worship, 1943Oil on canvas, 46” x 35 ½”. Illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, February 27, 1943. Collection of Norman Rockwell Museum. ©SEPS: Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN. All rights reserved. www.curtislicensing.com

“Freedom of Worship” represented a real challenge for Rockwell, for religion was a deeply personal subject for him. He wanted to produce a painting that would express values of unity and offer the vision of a world without religious discrimination.His original plan was for a scene in a barbershop in the country. He found this approach too stereotypical and not satisfying. So he abandoned this earlier version.The painting that we know today deals with the act of faith. The painting shows people of different beliefs in a moment of reflection, emphasizing the idea of an American community. Norman Rockwell believed that, after facial expressions, hands went a long way to communicate emotion in a painting. The painting “Freedom of Worship” is an illustration of this principle.

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Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) Freedom from Want, 1943Oil on canvas, 45 ¾” x 35 ½”. Illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, March 6, 1943. Collection of the Norman Rockwell Museum. ©SEPS: Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN. All rights reserved. www.curtislicensing.com

In this painting, a well-off family shares a Thanksgiving meal. On the left side of the table, we can see Norman Rockwell’s wife, Mary, who died in 1959, and across from her, the painter’s moth-er. The other figures are residents of Arlington whom the painter chose to complete the composition of his painting.Though an optimist by nature, Norman Rockwell did have doubts in this case. Was he right to paint such a big turkey when many in Europe were starving, invaded, or deported? While critics pointed out the over-abundance of food in this painting, they also not-ed that it emphasizes family, togetherness, and safety, and they agreed that abundance was the best response to the idea of need.

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Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) Freedom from Fear, 1943Oil on canvas, 45 ¾” x 35 ½”. Illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, March 13, 1943. Collection of the Norman Rockwell Museum. ©SEPS: Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN. All rights reserved. www.curtislicensing.com

This is the last painting in the “Four Freedoms” series. It was painted during the bombing of London. Notice that the father holds a newspaper with headlines about these events. The doll lying on the floor recalls the children of Europe, deprived of safety. This painting, which Rockwell did not consider an artwork of exceptional power, found a new timeliness after the attacks on the World Trade Center. At that time, the New York Times print-ed “Freedom from Fear” on the front page, substituting Norman Rockwell’s headline with one referring to the attacks in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania.

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Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) The Problem We All Live With, 1963Oil on canvas, 36” x 58”. Illustration for Look, January 14, 1964. Collection of The Norman Rockwell Museum.

“The Problem We All Live With” is one of Rockwell’s best-known paintings.In it, we see a little African-American girl in a white dress going to school, escorted by federal marshals whose faces cannot be seen, in order to emphasize the face of the girl. This little girl is none other than Ruby Bridges, the first African American child to integrate an all-white school in New Orleans in 1960. This painting trans-formed the classic image of Rockwell’s works. Here, the artist made a choice to depict the dramatic reality of the racism that characterized part of American society at the time.This painting marked a real turning point in the career of the artist, who was then 70 years old. From that time on, he wanted to use his art for the cause of justice.

“That day, being in the car when I turned the corner, I just assumed that I was in the middle of a parade. When I think about it today, that was the innocence of a child. I think that protected me, not knowing.”

Ruby Bridges Hall

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Located in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, the museum, built just miles away from Norman Rockwell’s studio (located in a barn that was moved to this location in 1986), is dedicated to education and art appreciation inspired by the legacy of Norman Rockwell. The Museum holds the world’s largest and most significant collection of art an archival materials relating to Rockwell’s and work.

Every year, The Caen Mémorial museum produces and displays two to three tempo-rary exhibitions on subjects that complement its permanent exhibition on World War II and the Cold War by contributing cultural, research-related, or educational expertise. “Rockwell, Roosevelt, and the Four Freedoms” will be the first exhibition of paintings of this scope in thirty years.

Norman Rockwell Museum

Caen Mémorial

Leadership support for “Rockwell, Roosevelt & the Four Freedoms” is provided by:Jay Alix, the Alix Foundation, and the George Lucas Family Foundation.

National Presenting Sponsor is:

Major support provided by:An anonymous funder, Michael Bakwin, Helen Bing, Elephant Rock Foundation, Ford Foundation, Heritage Auctions, Annie and Ned Lamont, Lawrence and Marilyn Matteson, National Endowment for the Arts, and Ted Slavin.

Additional Support provided by:Anthony and Susan Consigli, Ralph and Audrey Friedner, Louise Holland, Our GoFundMe Supporters

Media Sponsors:

and the Norman Rockwell Family Agency.

Norman Rockwell’s Stockbridge studio move, 1986. Photographer unknown Norman Rockwell Museum Collection.


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Lenscraft Photos, Inc., photograph of unidentified woman at Four Freedoms War Bond Show, 1943. Collection of Norman Rockwell Museum. © Norman Rockwell Family Agency. All rights reserved.

INDIVIDUAL ADMISSION:> Admission to exhibition: €10 / person> Admission to Memorial + exhibition: €24.80 / person

Online reservations required at www.memorial-caen.fr

GROUP ADMISSION:> Admission to exhibition: €13 / person

• By reservation only• Guided tour required• Languages: French or English

Advanced reservations required Call +33 2 31 06 06 45 or email [email protected]

EXHIBITION TOUR

The New-York Historical Society, New York, NY25 May - 2 September 2018

The Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, MI13 October 2018 - 13 January 2019

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX 15 December 2019 - 22 March 2020

Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA Fall 2020

Location to be confirmed, 3 May - 30 August 2020

The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C. 13 February - 29 April 2019

The Caen Memorial, Normandy, France4 June - 27 October 2019

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MEDIA RELATIONSEsplanade Général Eisenhower

CS 55026 - 14050 Caen Cedex 4 - FranceTel.: +33 2 31 06 06 47

[email protected] www.memorial-caen.com

© 2019 - Le Mémorial de Caen / Imprimé par Caen Repro (14)

th anniversary of d-day

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