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Norman Rockwell's Breaking Home Ties
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Breaking Home Ties was painted by Norman Rockwell
for the September 25, 1954 cover of The Saturday Evening Post.
Description
The details of the picture, as with most Norman Rockwell works,
combine to tell a story, in this case a story of endings and
beginnings, as a boy from New Mexico leaves home for the first time.
The painting, considered by experts to be one of Norman Rockwell's
masterworks, is also one of the most widely reproduced.
The young man and his father sit on the running board of the family's
trusty stakesided farm truck. The ticket protruding from the son's
pocket, and the single rail visible at the lower corner of the
painting, by which the trio sit, suggest that they are at a whistle
stop waiting for the train.
The son's books are stacked on a new suitcase bearing a "State U"
pennant. With his tie and socks perfectly matched, wearing pressed
white trousers and matching jacket, he is ready for his new life in
college. The young man's shoes are shined to a polished gleam, as,
hands folded, and with the family dog resting his head in his lap, his
gaze focuses eagerly toward the horizon, and on the next chapter in
his life.
In contrast, the father, sits slumped with both his and his son's hats
clutched in his hand, as if reluctant to let him go. The direction of
his gaze is opposite to his son's. His watch chain dangles, near at
hand, from his shirt pocket. There is a red flag and a lantern at the
ready, near his right hand, atop a well-used trunk. With the son's
luggage unloaded and waiting next to them, there is nothing left for
him to do but signal the train to stop, and his pose suggests that he
is looking up the track, dreading the imminent arrival of the train
that will carry his son away.
Though the two figures are not looking at each other, the sense of
family ties is very strong in the iconic 1954 picture.
History
Breaking Home Ties has been in many historical museums such as the
Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1955. The painting was also on display in
Moscow and Cairo in 1964. Since 2003, the painting has been on display
at the Norman Rockwell Museum which, before 2003, was the first public
display in over 25 years.
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