Willie Gillis: Package from Home by Norman Rockwell, 1941
In his iconic Willie Gillis series of Saturday Evening Post covers, Norman Rockwell championed "the plight of an inoffensive, ordinary little guy thrown into the chaos of war." This engaging and recently discovered oil on canvas, entitled Willie Gillis: Package From Home, was the first of this series of 11 total covers about a young private during World War II, and Rockwell's fourth cover for the Saturday Evening Post in 1941. An unusually large canvas, this piece is only recently rediscovered. According to the Wall Street Journal, it "hung in the headquarters of an undisclosed local company since 1968, when heirs of the painting's original owner gave it to the corporation during a merger." Comic yet still patriotic, it introduced the American wartime public to a young soldier who they came to know and love as if he were their own friend, brother or son. In fact, Willie Gillis was so beloved that many wrote letters to the Post enquiring after his well-being. At one point, Rockwell was inclined to end the series, but was urged to continue by the Post. The final painting in the series shows Willie in a safe, postwar college environment, peacefully studying under the presumed auspices of the G.I. Bill.
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In his iconic Willie Gillis series of Saturday Evening Post covers, Norman Rockwell championed "the plight of an inoffensive, ordinary little guy thrown into the chaos of war." This engaging and recently discovered oil on canvas, entitled Willie Gillis: Package From Home, was the first of this series of 11 total covers about a young private during World War II, and Rockwell's fourth cover for the Saturday Evening Post in 1941. An unusually large canvas, this piece is only recently rediscovered. According to the Wall Street Journal, it "hung in the headquarters of an undisclosed local company since 1968, when heirs of the painting's original owner gave it to the corporation during a merger." Comic yet still patriotic, it introduced the American wartime public to a young soldier who they came to know and love as if he were their own friend, brother or son. In fact, Willie Gillis was so beloved that many wrote letters to the Post enquiring after his well-being. At one point, Rockwell was inclined to end the series, but was urged to continue by the Post. The final painting in the series shows Willie in a safe, postwar college environment, peacefully studying under the presumed auspices of the G.I. Bill.
