Man on the Moon 1967

Norman Rockwell made this image of a man on the moon, with paint, and his imagination. It’s an incredible image. I’m drawn to the surface here, it's so smooth and carefully worked. I’m wondering about the tools he used and the process he employed. Look at the way he’s rendered the lunar surface. It's almost like a series of hatched marks, radiating out like the points of a compass. There is a real sense of care and attention to detail that is apparent in every part of the painting. It’s a fascinating painting, but it also reminds me of the work of someone like Vija Celmins who also used this kind of hyper-realism combined with close observation of the natural world. With both Rockwell and Celmins, it feels as though they are trying to communicate something deeper about the human condition. It gets you thinking about seeing, believing, and what it means to be human.