Growth of a Leader
{{Short description|1964 painting by Norman Rockwell}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox artwork
| title = Growth of a Leader
| image_file = GrowthOfALeader.jpg
| artist = Norman Rockwell
| year = 1964
| medium = Oil on canvas
| height_imperial = 36
| width_imperial = 32
| height_metric = 91
| width_metric = 81
| museum = National Scouting Museum
}}
Growth of a Leader is a 1964 painting by Norman Rockwell. It appeared as the 1966 Brown & Bigelow Boy Scout Calendar. Long-time Rockwell model James Edgerton and his son are depicted as a Scout moving through the stages of a man's Scouting career.
Creation
The Edgerton family lived next to Norman Rockwell for 10 years. During that time, four generations of Edgertons posed for Rockwell.{{cite news|last1=Powers|first1=Martine|title=Models for Norman Rockwell's Portraits Reunite|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/09/29/models-for-america/mfgfvQl0lbkutSVFORlYtO/story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121116054922/http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/09/29/models-for-america/mfgfvQl0lbkutSVFORlYtO/story.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 16, 2012|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=29 September 2012}} The first time that James "Buddy" Edgerton posed for Rockwell was for the 1945 Boy Scout Calendar illustration, I Will Do My Best,{{cite web |url=http://www.nrm.org/apprints/?p=375 |title=I Will Do My Best |website=Norman Rockwell Museum |access-date=May 15, 2017 }}{{Dead link|date=May 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} in 1943. The final time was for Growth of a Leader, after Rockwell moved from Arlington, Vermont, to Stockbridge, Massachusetts.{{cite web|last1=Jackson|first1=Carol|title=The Models Behind Rockwell's Portraits|url=http://www.thestory.org/stories/2013-09/models-behind-rockwell-s-portraits|website=The Story|publisher=American Public Media|date=30 September 2013|access-date=31 December 2014}} Of the four men depicted, three were modeled after Buddy and the fourth, the Cub Scout, was modeled after his son.{{cite news|last1=Momberg|first1=Tom|title=Rockwell Models Share Memories|url=http://www.benningtonbanner.com/stories/rockwell-models-share-memories,319354|newspaper=Bennington Banner|date= 2 August 2014}} Since no one in the Edgerton family was involved in Scouting, all of the uniforms were borrowed from friends.
Composition
The painting depicts the stages a man goes through as he moves through the Scouting program, in front of an American flag.{{cite news|last1=Wolgamott|first1=L. Kent|title=Sentimental Journeys|newspaper=Lincoln Journal Star|url=http://journalstar.com/lifestyles/l-kent-wolgamott-column-sentimental-journeys/article_eebe7749-06cc-54ae-9bd7-a071ef183f48.html|date=28 August 2004|page=5 (Section K)}} The cycle starts with a young Cub Scout. As the boy becomes older he moves to the Boy Scout and then the Sea Scout/Explorer (modern day Venturing) programs.{{cite web|title=Growth of a Leader by Norman Rockwell|url=http://www.bsamuseum.org/Exhibitions/CellPhoneTour.aspx|website=National Scouting Museum|publisher=Boy Scouts of America|access-date=December 31, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204060437/http://www.bsamuseum.org/Exhibitions/CellPhoneTour.aspx|archive-date=December 4, 2013|url-status=dead}} The Sea Scout has an Eagle Scout pin on his uniform. Finally, the man, with flecks of gray in his temples, becomes a Scoutmaster. Each of the figures is looking at a single point off of the canvasing, giving them the feeling of being united in a single purpose.{{Cite thesis |last=Williams |first=Monica Bernardette Ellen |title=An Examination of Norman Rockwell's Peace Corps Series: Tradition and Innovation |type=MA |url=https://ir.stonybrook.edu/jspui/handle/11401/72352 |date=May 2008 |publisher=Stony Brook University }}
Meaning
Sources
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://collections.nrm.org/search.do?view=lightbox&collection=6&field-4=ID&bool-4=AND&keyword-4=3672 Detailed record of the painting via the Norman Rockwell Museum website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408141402/http://collections.nrm.org/search.do?view=lightbox&collection=6&field-4=ID&bool-4=AND&keyword-4=3672 |date=2018-04-08 }}
{{Norman Rockwell}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Growth of a Leader}}
Category:Paintings by Norman Rockwell