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The Nightwatchman, 1962. by Norman Rockwell. Worcester Art Museum |
by Travis Simpkins
In 1962, Norman Rockwell was commissioned to paint yet another cover for the Saturday Evening Post. This illustration was to depict a nonchalant late shift security guard at a museum. For a museum, Rockwell chose the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, Massachusetts as inspiration. Containing the second largest collection of arms and armor in North America, the Higgins was utterly unique, with a great hall built to represent an interior castle setting. Norman Rockwell visited the Higgins Armory Museum, took reference photos and met with staff. Back home in Stockbridge, he executed an enormous charcoal preparatory sketch for the finished work to be called "The Nightwatchman." The drawing depicts a late shift security guard amongst a display of arms and armor, perhaps just having awoken from a quick doze, pouring himself a cup of coffee and preparing to enjoy a meal break. His watchman's signal clock casually hangs on the ironclad foot of the display armor. It certainly recalls a simpler time in museum security… a line of work, that despite parody, has long held a certain mystique. To be in an empty museum at night is an indescribable feeling… especially if one possesses an interest in history. This illustration, "The Nightwatchman", sums up some of that… anchored by a collection established during the golden age of American museums.
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The Nightwatchman, 1962. by Norman Rockwell. Worcester Art Museum |
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The Nightwatchman, 1962. by Norman Rockwell. Worcester Art Museum |
On a related note, there is still one Watchman's Signal left at the Worcester Art Museum. It has been out of service for decades, but recalls the old practice of stopping in at regular stations that would've been employed by Rockwell's "Nightwatchman." It is fitting that the drawing of the Security Guard, along with much of the armor, came to the nearby Worcester Art Museum when the Higgins Armory Museum closed in 2013.
Old Watchman's Signal |