Browse

Accession #	69.8
Artist	Norman Rockwell
Title	The Tattoo Artist
Date	1944
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	43 1/8 x 33 1/8 in. (109.5 x 84.1 cm) Frame: 49 x 39 x 3 in. (124.5 x 99.1 x 7.6 cm)
Signed	Signed lower right: "Norman / Rockwell"
Credit Line	Gift of the artist
Location	Visible Storage: Case 24, Screen M (Paintings)

Curatorial Remarks: Norman Rockwell’s naturalistic style, charming characterizations, and easily legible narratives of small-town life made him America’s most beloved illustrator. While his images are generally perceived as straightforward reflections of American life, they frequently demonstrate greater complexity. The Tattoo Artist, for example, subtly alludes to contemporary aesthetics—in particular, modernism’s interest in decorative patterns and the flatness of the picture plane—by suspending the figures in front of a wallpaper-like background of tattoo designs.