Norman Rockwell - Boy Scouts

**cavscout** · 6th December 06, 01:29 PM

Many of you know that Norman Rockwell painted many pictures for the Boy Scouts. Looking thru some of his work last night I stumbled on one I had forgotten about.

**Dirk Skene** · 6th December 06, 01:49 PM

I remember that one. I never noticed it before, but to the pleats on the kilt of the boy to the left seem to go around the front? :confused:

**beerbecue** · 6th December 06, 01:53 PM

Doesn't look that way to me...

Looks like you can see where the over-apron ends, and you can see the buckle on the right hip..

Looks proper to me....

Except for the angle of the chanter on the pipes.....

**haukehaien** · 6th December 06, 02:06 PM

Looks proper to me....

Except for the angle of the chanter on the pipes.....

Yeah, I'm not sure what he's doing there, and I can't see how he could possible reach the chanter with his left hand. :confused:

**Splash_4** · 6th December 06, 02:36 PM

I had never seen that picture before. Time to get back in my books on Rockwell prints.

**beowulf67** · 7th December 06, 06:09 AM

Originally Posted by haukehaien

Yeah, I'm not sure what he's doing there, and I can't see how he could possible reach the chanter with his left hand. :confused:

Probably painted that way for artistic reasons, so you can see more of the pipes and recognize what he's playing. Otherwise it's all behind the dancing kids legs.

**auld argonian** · 7th December 06, 06:52 AM

I used to think that ol' Norman was the consummate square bear from Delaware...after reading his autobiography and some other material I have changed my opinion...this guy was a great painter and a serious workman. His method usually consisted of enlisting models from among his neighbors and this was especially true when he did those paintings that involved those idyllic versions of boys' lives...the beagle that often shows up in a lot of those paintings was a neighbor's dog and is a particular favorite of mine. So it's really unlikely that he actually went to a Boy Scout Jamboree and got reference from life; more likely he staged local kids in the studio and put all of the elements together for the final version. Thus, it's pretty unlikely that he had a gen-u-ine Scottish Boy Scout who knew how to play the pipes or wear the kilt properly...although Normie did do great research and strove for accuracy, well...you can't get it right all the time.

Incidentally, I once heard an interview with the rocker Peter Wolfe, of J. Geils Band fame, and he used to get "babysat" by Norman Rockwell when he and his folks lived in Norman's neighborhood. Wolfe said that Rockwell didn't spend a lot of time talking to him bit that he set up another easel for the kid and gave him paints and paper and went on doing his own work while the young Peter happily tried to emulate him.

Best

AA