special events

THE CHRISTMAS STORY IN RENAISSANCE ART

A STUDY IN SYMBOLISM
2025 CHRISTMAS LUNCH & LECTURE

A fascinating lecture by Paula Nuttall, who illustrated and explained for us the degree to which symbolism was an essential element in the art depicting the Christmas story – a symbolism that would have meant much to contemporary viewers. Symbolism apart, this writer was also particularly struck by the prominence given to the midwives in these works.

CHRISTMAS LECTURE AND LUNCH 2024

Norman Rockwell Great American artist or mere illustrator

‘Impressions’ by Chrissie Twigg

John Ericson began our festive lecture with a memorable joke about a rendezvous between a husband and wife which teed us up gently for a lecture on the artist and 3-times married family man, Norman Rockwell. Still largely unfamiliar even today to a UK audience, Rockwell was an astonishingly prolific twentieth century American artist and illustrator with approximately 5,000 finished works. His reputation developed from his 50-year association with the popular Saturday Evening Post for whom he provided some 320 covers. In addition to this collaboration, he had commercial arrangements with clients such as Parker pens, Kellog, Pepsi Cola and Coca Cola. It is, perhaps, his images of Father Christmas for the latter that are seared in our psyche.

Rockwell described himself as “a storyteller with a brush”, and often including himself in his illustrations. To his critics his work was schmaltzy and rather saccharine but to his many fans (including those storytelling filmmakers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas who were both avid collectors), he was a humorous, whimsical and in later life, serious, painter. Rockwell’s response to his critics was that he could see the world wasn’t perfect, but he chose to present it as if it was.

His political awakening came when he left the Evening Post and gained more artistic freedom with Look magazine. His powerful picture of black child, Ruby Bridges, making history when flanked by four suited men on her way to a white school depicted, for Barak Obama, the incident which led him to the White House. When he was President, he asked for the painting to be loaned and shown in the West Wing, and he invited Ruby Bridges to view it with him.

John asked us to consider whether Rockwell was an illustrator or an artist and concluded by encouraging us to visit the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Whilst the audience had divided opinions on the question, there was a consensus that we had listened to an excellent talk and a murmur of temptation around the room for a Stateside visit.