Christmas Trio 1923

Curator: Norman Rockwell’s “Christmas Trio,” painted in 1923, depicts a streetcaroling scene. It has this sort of cozy, wintry tableau. Editor: Cozy but also… straining? Look at those necks, they’re really belting it out, aren’t they? There’s something a little desperate in their merriment. Curator: I see what you mean. I mean it is the Christmas season. Rockwell has these deep roots in creating American cultural icons, in painting these ideals, so that emotional tension might be key to Rockwell. Note the slightly antiquated dress, it doesn't look strictly of 1923. He's pulling a sort of old time Christmas vibe. Editor: It reminds me of images of A Christmas Carol, very Dickensian… they almost feel staged, like players in a community theatre, perhaps… the musician’s hat is teetering, the young boy in the scarlet scarf seems ready to cry… The symbols of holiday warmth seem precariously balanced, I’m reading anxiety, like we’re clinging to a romanticised past when the present reality isn’t matching up. Curator: Christmas has become laden with that burden over time, yes. Perhaps he’s getting at something essential. The painting captures the musical tradition and instruments, a clarinet I believe and, certainly, a violin and musical book held by a boy with ruddy cheeks. It seems the figures represent different ages, perhaps of familial generational harmony as the book rests in his hands. Editor: Exactly. It's very deliberately crafted to tell a specific, yet simple, story: music and community, old and young... yet with those ever present anxieties below the surface that haunt the holidays even a century later! A great choice. It reveals how Christmas continues to echo its imagery over the generations. Curator: Perhaps so, let us move on to the next art piece. Editor: I’m so glad we did that one, It resonated more than I expected.