Via Community News Service, in partnership with the University of Vermont for Shelburne News
SHELBURNE – Shelburne Museum Curator Carolyn Bauer sat down recently to talk about the lasting impact of Norman Rockwell’s work and the excitement the new acquisitions are generating at the museum.
Rockwell (1894-1978) lived in Arlington, VT from 1939 to 1953 and featured Vermont in some of his most famous art. All three of the works gifted to the museum were commissioned by the Rock of Ages granite quarry and monument maker in Barre. Bauer also shared news about a Rockwell exhibit planned for next year.
Q. How did the museum acquire the three Rockwell paintings?
A. I received a phone call from a group called Polycor Inc., which owns Rock of Ages. They’re out of Canada, and they approached us saying they have these three works at Rock of Ages in Barre, and they’re hoping to find a new home for them, hopefully in Vermont. I visited and saw the works. We chatted about how Shelburne Museum handles being stewards of these works, and they were very happy to give them as gifts, as donations to us.
Q. Norman Rockwell lived from 1894 to 1978 and remains popular today. Can you tell me a little bit about him as an artist?
A. He’s multi-generational in his reach, even today. During his prolific career, he was well known as an illustrator for the Saturday Evening Post, which was a weekly publication that came to your mailbox. But what is really unique, what we’re excited to constantly explore at Shelburne Museum, is his connection to Vermont, which is really deep in the sense that he became an honorary Vermonter in many ways.
Q. Can you describe the paintings?
A. “Kneeling Girl” (1955) was the first commission Rock of Ages asked Rockwell to create. It is a small adolescent girl who is kneeling near a head marker, a gravestone with daisies in reverence or memoriam to someone else. In “The Craftsman,” (1962) we see a stone engraver creating a head at their factory. Having both the sketch as well as the final work of art helps us understand his process, looking into his mind of how he approached the painting, what changes he did between the final sketch and the final painting.
Q. How long have the paintings been displayed at the museum?
A. They went on view in May. Public reception has been great. There’s been a lot of excitement around having Rockwells here in Vermont accessible for the public to view.
Q. What would you say makes Norman Rockwell a compelling artist in this day and age?
A. What makes the three paintings special now is understanding the context of placing Rockwell in Vermont, with a Vermont company, for a product that is important to Vermont: granite. I think what was true for Rockwell back then and continues is the story, the narrative. It’s changed over the years, but you’re still creating and sharing stories around these works, which was the same thing that happened when you would get your Saturday Evening Post in 1934 and have a conversation around the family table.
Q. Which painting is your favorite?
A. I think the sketch for “The Craftsman” (1961-1962). It’s not polished, it’s rough. It’s an artist working. More than that. You get inside his head. You can seize his hand quite definitively through different pencil marks, paint marks that make it feel like a very personal rendition of the work that I’ve grown to really love.
Q. Why do you like curating at Shelburne Museum?
A. You’re constantly working on multiple projects at once, often many years in advance. It’s kind of this revolving door, but it’s exciting. What I love the most about curating is communicating with our visitors to, hopefully, instill not only appreciation in art, but perhaps topics that you learn and think about while in the exhibition that you bring into someone’s life, even if just for a second.
Q. Are there any upcoming exhibits or events you’d like to talk about?
A. Next summer, our exhibition “Norman Rockwell: At Home in Vermont” will open on June 20, 2026 and run through October 25, 2026. We’re going to have fabulous loaned works by Rockwell, as well as his friends from Arlington, Vermont.
For more information visit https://shelburnemuseum.org
Correction (10/9/25): A previous version of this story referred to Norman Rockwell by the wrong first name