Iconic Norman Rockwell images are coming to Mass. federal courthouses this fall
Freedom of Speech (1943) by Norman Rockwell
Reproductions of two iconic Norman Rockwell paintings will soon find a home in Massachusetts U.S. District Courts in the fall, the Stockbridge Norman Rockwell Museum announced in a statement Wednesday.
High-quality canvas copies of Rockwell’s The Four Freedoms series (1943) and Golden Rule (1961) will be put on display in Boston, Worcester, and Springfield courthouses, according to the statement.
“A longtime Massachusetts resident, Norman Rockwell reminded us all about the importance of participating in government and our responsibility as citizens,” Clerk of Courts Robert Farrell said in the statement. “Our federal courthouses, as focal points of civic engagement in our community, are perfect venues to display these iconic images.”
Former president Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 “Four Freedoms” speech to Congress, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, inspired Rockwell’s paintings, the museum said.
Golden Rule (1963) by Norman Rockwell
“The promise of freedom and of equal justice for all, are imbued in Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms paintings,” Norman Rockwell Museum Director and CEO Laurie Norton Moffatt said in the statement.
Reproductions of the original paintings, distributed nationwide by the U.S. Treasury Department, helped sell $133 million in war bonds and stamps, according to the museum.
An unveiling reception will take place at the Boston courthouse, located at 1 Courthouse Way, on September 23 at 3:30 p.m. Other ceremonies will be held in Springfield, at 300 State St., on October 6 at 2 p.m., and in Worcester, at 595 Main St., on October 11 at 2 p.m.
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