Freedom From Want, also known as The Thanksgiving Picture or I’ll Be Home for Christmas, is the third of the Four Freedoms series of four oil paintings by American artist Norman Rockwell. The works were inspired by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union Address, known as Four Freedoms.
The painting was created in November 1942 and published in the March 6, 1943 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. All of the people in the picture were friends and family of Rockwell in Arlington, Vermont, who were photographed individually and painted into the scene. This illustration has become an iconic representation of the Thanksgiving holiday and family holiday gatherings in general.
One of my favorites! Enjoy your Thanksgiving, PT – a bit of snow only makes it look more festive… outside!
This illustration was published a month before I was born, so it’s just my speed. When I was a kid, this is what our Thanksgivings looked like.
One of my favorite things about this painting, when it showed up on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, I think it was Jean Shepard (or another writer) who said he was delivering copies (or offering subscriptions) and when one of the homeowners saw the cover with this painting on it, he said it was a load of crock, nobody’s Thanksgiving is that good.
I think of that story when i see this painting because none of mine have ever looked that good (or a turkey ever was that good looking). And of course I think of the amended version where everybody’s staring at their phones instead of looking joyful at the meal to come.
When I was little, Thanksgiving was like this. But with four siblings, the numbers grew rapidly.
The same to and yours and to your legions of admirers.
I have an 11 x 17 reproduction of that painting and the photographic detail is mind boggling.
I didn’t know until I read the above this year that all the people in the painting are friends and family. I love Rockwell’s work. Those certainly were different times.