Fact and Fiction (Old Man and Young Woman Reading)

In 1916, one of Norman Rockwell's iconic illustrations appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post for the first time. This great achievement was a windfall for the artist, leading to commissions from a variety of magazines, including Collier's, The Literary Digest and Life. The present work, Fact and Fiction, was soon after commissioned by the illustrated weekly newspaper Leslie’s and published on the cover the following year on January 11, 1917. In this painting from his early years of popularity, Rockwell skillfully presents his whimsical take on everyday American life, which would propagate across newsstands across the nation and enter the homes of millions of people, continuing to resonate with viewers today over a century later.

As described by the Nassau County Museum of Art when the present work was exhibited in the 2008-10 traveling exhibition Norman Rockwell: American Imagist, "While his early Saturday Evening Post covers usually featured children, the six covers he painted for Leslie's focused primarily on adult situations. This particular image presents another Rockwell-created dichotomy: the universal balance between young and old. While these persons seemingly have no interest in one another, chances are that they might have had interests as youths meeting on the same train, given similar circumstances. The 'elder' is depicted as worn-out, perhaps a doctor with a black leather bag, obviously reading a 'used' newspaper. The 'younger' anxiously sits on the train holding her novel to her chest, clearly forlorn and wistful. As scruffy and uncaring as the 'elder' seems, the 'younger' fashionably presents her with considered accoutrement—elaborate make-up, furs, flowers and jewelry." This play between the fun and folly of youth versus the pitfalls of elder experience would be a theme Rockwell would often revisit throughout the course of his acclaimed illustration career.