Freedom from Fear (painting)

"Freedom from Fear" is one of "Four Freedoms" by Norman Rockwell that were inspired by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the State of the Union Address he delivered to the 77th United States Congress on January 6, 1941. His other three paintings were,

# "Freedom of Speech"
# "Freedom to Worship"
# "Freedom from Want"

"Freedom from Fear" was published in the March 13, 1943 Issue of "The Saturday Evening Post" with a matching essay as part of the Four Freedoms series.

The United States Government shortly later asked for, and received, permission from Norman Rockwell to allow his Four Freedoms paintings to be used in four different war-time posters during World War II to help motivate the civilian workforce. The United States Government Printing Office printed the posters in at least three sizes: nowrap|20 × 28, nowrap|28 × 40, and nowrap|40 × 56 inches.

The United States Department of the Treasury toured Rockwell's Four Freedoms paintings around the country after their publication in 1943. The Four Freedoms Tour raised over $130,000,000 in war bond sales.

Rockwell's Four Freedoms paintings were also reproduced as postage stamps by the United States Post Office.

This painting is the only one of the "Four Freedoms" that was not newly created. It had actually been created to depict the Battle of Britain and had gone unpublished by "The Saturday Evening Post".cite book|title=Norman Rockwell: Pictures for the American People|isbn=0-8109-6392-2|chapter=The Four Freedoms|author=Hennessey, Maureen Hart and Anne Knutson|date=1999|pages=94-102|publisher=Harry N. Abrams, Inc. with High Museum of Art and Norman Rockwell Museum] Note the newspaper caption begins "Bombings Kill. . .Horrors Hit. . ." Rockwell had a certain distaste toward this image because he felt the idea that American children were resting safely in their beds as Europe burned was a smug theme.

Critical review

The scene has been described as overly intimate. Both the arrangement of the furniture and the lighting contribute to this intimacy.

Four Freedoms Monument

Roosevelt commissioned sculptor Walter Russell to design a monument to be dedicated to the first hero of the war. The Four Freedoms Monument was created in 1941, and was dedicated at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1943.

ee also

* Four Freedoms
* Four Freedoms (European Union)

References

External links

* [http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/od4freed.html Full text and audio of the Four Freedoms speech] . An excerpt of the Four Freedoms section is also available.
* [http://www.feri.org/common/news/details.cfm?QID=2089&clientid=11005 Full text of the Four Freedoms speech.]