The practical jokes draws a chalk circle of innocence around the zone of the perverse.
Norman Rockwell’s pastoral scenes of everyday small-town life are among the most recognizable images from twentieth-century art. Opinions on Rockwell are divided, but both his supporters and detractors agree that his art embodies a distinctively American innocence. As critic Richard Halpern suggests, however, we are often reluctant to acknowledge the sly, witty, and sometimes disturbing dimensions of Rockwell’s work. Far from a banal painter of the ordinary, Halpern contends, Rockwell is someone we have not yet dared to see for the complex creature he is: a wholesome pervert, a knowing innocent, and a kitschy genius.
Above: Detail from "Helping Mother" by Norman Rockwell