Also known as The Thanksgiving Picture (or I’ll Be Home for Christmas), Freedom from Want is the third in a series of four paintings in a collection known as the Four Freedoms.
The four oil paintings by artist Norman Rockwell were said to be inspired by the 1941 State of the Union Address (known as Four Freedoms), given by then-US President, Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Created in November 1942, the painting was published in the March 6, 1943, issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Although the work is considered timeless and struck many a chord with Americans in wartime, it also caused a lot of resentment abroad, where wartime hardship was more prevalent.
The painting has been used by many people over the years, including an adaptation for the cover of the 1946 book “Norman Rockwell, Illustrator”.
Amongst positive critics, the work is highly regarded as the perfect example on how to master of the challenges of white-on-white painting. It is one of Rockwell’s most well-known works.
Interestingly, the painting derives from a series of photographs the artist took of his friends present at Thanksgiving dinner, who were then later painted into the scene. Each one of the four Freedoms were published with a corresponding essay by well-known writers at the time.
See more about Freedom From Want here.
Read more about Norman Rockwell here.
Discover other Thanksgiving-related art on Academia Aesthetics here.
