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Esaak, Shelley. "'The Problem We All Live With' by Norman Rockwell." ThoughtCo, Feb. 16, 2021, thoughtco.com/the-problem-we-all-live-with-rockwell-183005.
Esaak, Shelley. (2021, February 16). 'The Problem We All Live With' by Norman Rockwell. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-problem-we-all-live-with-rockwell-183005
Esaak, Shelley. "'The Problem We All Live With' by Norman Rockwell." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-problem-we-all-live-with-rockwell-183005 (accessed July 5, 2022).
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On November 14, 1960, six-year-old Ruby Bridges attended William J. Frantz Elementary School in the 9th Ward of New Orleans. It was her first day of school, as well as New Orleans' court-ordered first day of integrated schools.
If you weren't around in the late '50s and early '60s, it may be difficult to imagine just how contentious was the issue of desegregation. A great many people were violently opposed to it. Hateful, shameful things were said and done in protest. There was an angry mob gathered outside of Frantz Elementary on November 14. It wasn't a mob of malcontents or the dregs of society — it was a mob of well-dressed, upstanding housewives. They were shouting such awful obscenities that audio from the scene had to be masked in television coverage.
Ruby had to be escorted past this offensiveness by Federal marshals. Naturally, the event made the nightly news and anyone who watched it became aware of the story. Norman Rockwell was no exception, and something about the scene — visual, emotional, or perhaps both — lodged it into his artist's consciousness, where it waited until such time as it could be released.
In 1963, Norman Rockwell ended his long relationship with "The Saturday Evening Post" and began working with its competitor "LOOK." He approached Allen Hurlburt, the Art Director at "LOOK," with an idea for a painting of (as Hurlburt wrote) "the Negro child and the marshals." Hurlburt was all for it and told Rockwell it would merit "a complete spread with a bleed on all four sides. The trim size of this space is 21 inches wide by 13 1/4 inches high." Additionally, Hurlburt mentioned that he needed the painting by November 10th in order to run it in an early January 1964 issue.
The child portrays Ruby Bridges as she walked to Frantz Elementary School surrounded, for her protection, by Federal marshals. Of course, we didn't know her name was Ruby Bridges at the time, as the press had not released her name out of concern for her safety. As far as most of the United States knew, she was a nameless six-year-old African-American remarkable in her solitude and for the violence her small presence in a "Whites Only" school engendered.
Cognizant only of her gender and race, Rockwell enlisted the help of then-nine-year-old Lynda Gunn, the granddaughter of a family friend in Stockbridge. Gunn posed for five days, her feet propped at angles with blocks of wood to emulate walking. On the final day, Gunn was joined by the Stockbridge Chief of Police and three U.S. Marshals from Boston.
Rockwell also shot several photographs of his own legs taking steps to have more references of folds and creases in walking men's pant legs. All of these photographs, sketches, and quick painting studies were employed to create the finished canvas.
This painting was done in oils on canvas, as were all of Norman Rockwell's other works . You will note, too, that its dimensions are proportionate to the "21 inches wide by 13 1/4 inches high" that Allen Hurlburt requested. Unlike other types of visual artists, illustrators always have space parameters in which to work.
The first thing that stands out in "The Problem We All Live With" is its focal point: the girl. She is positioned slightly left of center but balanced by the large, red splotch on the wall right of center. Rockwell took artistic license with her pristine white dress, hair ribbon, shoes, and socks (Ruby Bridges was wearing a plaid dress and black shoes in the press photograph). This all-white outfit against her dark skin immediately leaps out of the painting to catch the viewer's eye.
The white-on-black area lies in stark contrast to the rest of the composition. The sidewalk is gray, the wall is mottled old concrete, and the Marshals' suits are boringly neutral. In fact, the only other areas of engaging color are the lobbed tomato, the red explosion it has left on the wall, and the Marshals' yellow armbands.
Rockwell also deliberately leaves out the Marshals' heads. They are more powerful symbols because of their anonymity. They are faceless forces of justice ensuring that a court order (partially visible in the left-most marshal's pocket) is enforced — despite the rage of the unseen, screaming mob. The four figures form a sheltering bulwark around the little girl, and the only sign of their tension lies in their clenched right hands.
As the eye travels in a counter-clockwise ellipse around the scene, it is easy to overlook two barely-noticeable elements that are the crux of "The Problem We All Live With." Scrawled on the wall are the racial slur, "N----R," and the menacing acronym, " KKK ."
The initial public reaction to "The Problem We All Live With" was stunned disbelief. This was not the Norman Rockwell everyone had grown to expect: the wry humor, the idealized American life, the heartwarming touches, the areas of vibrant color — all of these were conspicuous in their absence. "The Problem We All Live With" was a stark, muted, uncomplicated composition, and the topic! The topic was as humorless and uncomfortable as it gets.
Some previous Rockwell fans were disgusted and thought the painter had taken leave of his senses. Others denounced his "liberal" ways using derogatory language. Many readers squirmed, as this was not the Norman Rockwell they had come to expect. However, the majority of "LOOK" subscribers (after they got over their initial shock) began to give integration more serious thought than they had before. If the issue bothered Norman Rockwell so much that he was willing to take a risk, surely it deserved their closer scrutiny.
Now, nearly 50 years later, it is easier to gauge the importance of "The Problem We All Live With" when it first appeared in 1964. Every school in the United States is integrated, at least by law if not in fact. Although headway has been made, we have yet to become a colorblind society. There are still racists among us, much as we may wish they weren't. Fifty years, half a century, and still the fight for equality continues. In light of this, Norman Rockwell's "The Problem We All Live With" stands out as a more courageous and prescient statement than we originally supposed.
When not out on loan or touring, the painting can be viewed at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
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By Kelly Richman-Abdou on March 27, 2019
Kelly Richman-Abdou is a Contributing Writer at My Modern Met. An art historian living in Paris, Kelly was born and raised in San Francisco and holds a BA in Art History from the University of San Francisco and an MA in Art and Museum Studies from Georgetown University. When she’s not writing, you can find Kelly wandering around Paris, whether she’s leading a tour (as a guide, she has been interviewed by BBC World News America and France 24 ) or simply taking a stroll with her husband and two tiny daughters.
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In the middle of the 20th century, the Civil Rights Movement brought much-needed change to the United States of America. On the heels of the Harlem Renaissance , this movement emerged in order to end the discrimination against African Americans that had plagued the country since the end of the Civil War.
Several now-famous figures spearheaded this cause, with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks among the most well-known. In addition to these key players, however, the Civil Rights Movement had the support of one unlikely advocate: Norman Rockwell , a white artist known for his nostalgic views of “average America” (Thomas Buechner, Norman Rockwell: Artist and Illustrator ).
Prior to the 1960s, Rockwell made a name for himself as the cover artist for The Saturday Evening Post . During the Civil Rights Movement, however, Rockwell experienced an unprecedented shift in focus, foregoing his charming illustrations of everyday life for poignant paintings rooted in social justice—with The Problem We All Live With leading the way.
Norman Rockwell, “Triple Self-Portrait,” 1959
Norman Rockwell was born in New York City at the turn of the 20th century. As a child, he excelled as a painter, culminating in a job as a cover artist for Boys’ Life Magazine when he was just 18 years old.
Four years later, Rockwell would land a life-changing position at The Saturday Evening Post, a popular bi-monthly magazine. Over the span of 47 years, Rockwell completed 322 covers for the magazine, with most exploring quaint themes like childhood, coupledom, and the American workforce.
By the 1960s, Rockwell's work remained popular with the public. In 1963, however, he left his job at The Saturday Evening Post and accepted a role at Look Magazine . It is during his time with Look that Rockwell's interest in social justice emerged—and his old approach to art dissipated. “For 47 years, I portrayed the best of all possible worlds— grandfathers, puppy dogs—things like that,” Rockwell said in an interview at the age of 75. “That kind of stuff is dead now, and I think it’s about time.”
The year after he was hired by Look , Rockwell produced his most celebrated Civil Rights painting: The Problem We All Live With.
Following the 1954 Brown V. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, Bridges was one of a few students selected to start the desegregation process in New Orleans. Bridges was the only one of these children sent to William Frantz School. While her walk to the institution's front doors was marred by a violent mob, Bridges did not buckle under pressure. In fact, “she showed a lot of courage,” Charles Burks, one of her Marshal escorts, said. “She never cried. She didn't whimper. She just marched along like a little soldier, and we're all very very proud of her.”
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)
Bridges, however, attributes her mature handling of the situation not to bravery, but to childhood innocence. In 2011, she explained : “The girl in that painting at six years old knew absolutely nothing about racism—I was going to school that day. So every time I see that, I think about the fact that I was an innocent child that knew absolutely nothing about what was happening that day.”
Interestingly, this element is evident in Rockwell's rendering. By depicting the large Marshals anonymously and opting to show the scene from a low-lying angle, Rockwell stresses both Bridges' small size and young age—and, in turn, her innocence.
Three years after the publication of The Problem We All Live With , Rockwell revisited this theme. New Kids in the Neighborhood , another illustration for Look Magazine , features two groups of children: one black, and one white. Set in what appears to be a suburban neighborhood, the scene prominently features a moving truck. As the black children are positioned near the truck's cargo, it can be inferred that they are the New Kids in the Neighborhood —and, judging by their curious expressions, the white children aren't sure what to think.
Norman Rockwell, “New Kids in the Neighborhood,” 1967
Similar to the The Problem We All Live With —and in contrast to his past portrayals of kids— New Kids in the Neighborhood illustrates Rockwell's interest in exploring the effects of racism on children.
As testament to its significance, President Barack Obama had The Problem We All Live With temporarily installed in the White House in 2011. As he and Ruby Bridges gazed at the painting, the pair couldn't help but marvel at the situation. “I think it's fair to say that if it hadn't been for you guys, I might not be here and we wouldn't be looking at this together,” Obama, the country's first African American president, remarked.
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