Clown 1925

Norman Rockwell’s “Clown” shows a moment of impact and grace, rendered with a light touch and a limited palette. There's a softness to the way Rockwell builds up the forms, using thin washes of color to suggest volume and depth. Notice the way the light glances off the smooth leather of the football helmet, creating these subtle gradations that feel almost photographic. It's clear that Rockwell loved exploring the subtle changes in light and shadow and was clearly interested in the processes involved in the act of seeing. Look at the way he renders the hands of the young boy on the left; they’re splayed out, caught mid-air, and painted with a kind of delicate precision. The overall feeling is one of energy, a sense of bodies colliding in the space of a moment. Rockwell reminds me a little of Toulouse Lautrec, in the way that he manages to capture an atmosphere, a specific mood, through carefully observed details. Art is about capturing a feeling, and Rockwell does that so well.