Norman Rockwell family slams DHS over art use on social media

The family of Norman Rockwell says that the artist would be "devastated" that his work appeared in social media posts from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and "for the cause of persecution toward immigrant communities and people of color."

In an opinion piece published this week in USA Today, Rockwell's son, grandchildren and great-grandchildren called out DHS for a series of posts earlier this year that featured his artwork. Three of Rockwell's paintings, the family said, "appeared without authorization" alongside posts from DHS.

"Protect our American way of life," one August post on Facebook from DHS said, with an image of Rockwell's 1971 painting, "Salute the Flag." Another post from DHS included an image of Rockwell's work along with a Calvin Coolidge quote, "Those who do not want to be partakers of the American spirit ought not to settle in America.”

A DHS spokesperson didn't immediately return ITK's request for comment.

Rockwell, his family said, painted "more than 4,000 works during his career, many of them depicting what are considered classic scenes from 20th century American life: Boy Scouts, doctor visits, squabbling couples, soda shops, soldiers returning from war, linemen and so much more."

"From 1916 to 1963, he regularly painted covers for the Saturday Evening Post, which by and large depicted only White people," the USA Today piece said. 

"The scarcity of people of color in Rockwell’s paintings has led those who are not familiar with his entire oeuvre to draw the conclusion that his vision was of a White America, free of immigrants and people of color. But nothing could have been further from the truth."

The artist was "profoundly shaken by the injustices toward Black Americans that were brought to the forefront during the Civil Rights Movement," his family said, and "felt an urgent need to raise his voice against the racism and injustice he witnessed all around him."

Rockwell, who famously painted iconic civil rights icon Ruby Bridges as she walked into her racially segregated school as a first grader in 1960, died in 1978. 

"If Norman Rockwell were alive today, he would be devastated to see that not only does the problem Ruby Bridges confronted 65 years ago still plague us as a society, but that his own work has been marshalled for the cause of persecution toward immigrant communities and people of color," his group of 10 relatives wrote.

"We — as his eldest son, grandchildren and great-grandchildren — believe that now is the time to follow in his footsteps and stand for the values he truly wished to share with us and all Americans: compassion, inclusiveness and justice for all," they said.