Red Head

Norman Rockwell’s Red Head first appeared as an illustration for Brooke Hanlon’s story of the same name in the November 1940 issue of American Magazine. Between 1934-42, Rockwell created numerous covers for the magazine in addition to publications such as Ladies’ Home Journal, the Saturday Evening Post, and Woman’s Home Companion. In all of these journals, Rockwell rendered imagery which resonated with readers’ everyday experiences; one of the most frequent of these themes was parenthood. As Virginia Mecklenburg notes, “Relationships between parents and their children and the challenges associated with growing up were popular motifs that allowed readers to process their own concerns and affirm the values that guided their day-to-day decisions.” (Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell, from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, New York, 2010, p. 99) Indeed, rendering the eternal bond between family was one of Rockwell’s hallmark motifs, which he brilliantly brings to life in Red Head.

Hanlon’s short story Red Head centers around an orphan child, 15-month-old Tim Murdock, who finds a loving home with a family who has lost a baby of their own. The present scene depicts the first moment baby Tim is held by his soon-to-be adopted mother, Linda. Brook Hanlon writes, “no doubt Linda had meant to hold young Tim gingerly, fearfully, but that sort of holding was never part of young Tim’s plans. His inspection completed, he caught her neck in his strangle hold and fitted his head contentedly under her ear…” ("Red Head," American Magazine, November 1940, p. 168) In depicting this emotional first embrace, Rockwell captures something both stirring and timeless: the bond between parent and child.