Freedom from Fear (painting)
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Freedom from Fear is one of Four Freedoms by Norman Rockwell that were inspired by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the State of the Union Address he delivered to the 77th United States Congress on January 6, 1941. His other three paintings were,
Freedom from Fear was published in the March 13, 1943 Issue of The Saturday Evening Post with a matching essay as part of the Four Freedoms series.
The United States Government shortly later asked for, and received, permission from Norman Rockwell to allow his Four Freedoms paintings to be used in four different war-time posters during World War II to help motivate the civilian workforce. The United States Government Printing Office printed the posters in at least three sizes: 20 × 28, 28 × 40, and 40 × 56 inches.
The United States Department of the Treasury toured Rockwell's Four Freedoms paintings around the country after their publication in 1943. The Four Freedoms Tour raised over $130,000,000 in war bond sales.
Rockwell's Four Freedoms paintings were also reproduced as postage stamps by the United States Post Office.
This painting is the only one of the Four Freedoms that was not newly created. It had actually been created to depict the Battle of Britain and had gone unpublished by The Saturday Evening Post.[1] Note the newpaper caption begins "Bombings Kill. . .Horrors Hit. . ." Rockwell had a certain distaste toward this image because he felt the idea that American children were resting safely in their beds as Europe burned was a smug theme.[1]
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[edit] Critical review
The scene has been described as overly intimate. Both the arrangement of the furniture and the lighting contribute to this intimacy.[1]
[edit] Four Freedoms Monument
Roosevelt commissioned sculptor Walter Russell to design a monument to be dedicated to the first hero of the war. The Four Freedoms Monument was created in 1941, and was dedicated at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1943.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Full text and audio of the Four Freedoms speech. An excerpt of the Four Freedoms section is also available.
- Full text of the Four Freedoms speech.
