Freedom from Want is the third of the Four Freedoms series of four oil paintings by American artist Norman Rockwell (1894–1978, pictured in his twenties). The works were inspired by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union Address, known as Four Freedoms. Until then, freedom from want was not a commonly understood or accepted universal freedom. The painting was published in the March 6, 1943, issue of The Saturday Evening Post. It depicts a group of people gathered around a dinner table for a holiday meal, all of whom were friends and family of Rockwell; they were photographed individually and painted into the scene. The painting has become an iconic representation of the Thanksgiving holiday and family holiday gatherings in general and has had a wide array of adaptations, parodies, and other uses. Popular then and now in the U.S., it caused resentment in Europe where the masses were enduring wartime hardship. Artistically, the work is highly regarded as an example of mastery of the challenges of white-on-white painting and as one of Rockwell's most famous works. (Full article...)
Part of the Four Freedoms featured topic.
Recently featured: "The World Is Not Enough" – Biscayne National Park – Haflinger