In mid-November of last year, Heritage Auctions brought in just over $14.7 million during its American Art Signature Auction. The sale was led by Rockwell’s So You Want to See the President!—the artist’s only known suite of four interrelated paintings—when it was acquired by the White House Historical Association for $7.25 million. Created in 1943 at the height of World War II, the work was commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s press secretary Stephen T. Early, and its imagery of American soldiers, senators, Secret Service agents and citizens hung prominently in the White House from 1978 through 2022.
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), So You Want to See the President!, the Saturday Evening Post interior (complete series; 19 vignettes, 4 sheets), November 13, 1943. Mixed media on paper, panel one: 28 x 21¾ in.; panels two, three and four: 283/8 x 217/8 in., signed and titled upper left of panel one: So You Want / to See the President! / sketched / by / Norman Rockwell. Signed and inscribed on card mounted on lower left of panel one: To Steve Early / in gratitude for / his great kindness / Norman Rockwell. Initialed on panel four at lower right of sofa: N/R. Estimate: $4/6,000,000 SOLD: $7,250,000
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), A Scout is Friendly, 1943. Oil on canvas, 33 x 22 in., signed lower right: Norman / Rockwell. SOLD: $984,375
“This moment feels truly historic,” says Aviva Lehmann, Heritage Auctions’ senior vice president and director of American art. “This result honors not only Rockwell’s enduring vision of American democracy, but also Heritage’s commitment to preserving our nation’s cultural legacy. It’s a privilege to have been part of a homecoming worthy of the artist, his subject and the story he captured.”
The sale price for So You Want to See the President! also set a auction record for a work on paper by the artist. A Scout is Friendly, earned the second top lot when the painting sold for $984,375. Also from 1943, the piece illustrates the fourth directive of the Scout Law, “A scout is friendly,” by showing a teenaged scout helping an elderly couple and being a role model for the young boy in the picture.
Works by Rockwell dominated the top 10 lots, with only Joseph Christian Leyendecker and Ernie Barnes edging their way into the last two slots with sale prices in the $200,000 range. —
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