"Willie Gillis in Convoy" by Norman Rockwell

[Story]

GARDNER, Massachusetts - A painting that hung in the Gardner High School principal's office in Gardner, Massachusetts, for nearly 50 years is headed to the auction block and it is expected to sell for close to $2 million, CBS Boston reports.

The 1941 painting "Willie Gillis in Convoy" was a gift from Norman Rockwell to former principal Earl Williams in the 1950's. It hung in the principal's office until 2001, and had been stashed away in storage for the last 13 years.

The Rockwell original depicts a World War II soldier in the back of a truck with several comrades.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/norman-rockwell-original-found-in-massachusetts-school/


http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2014/american-art-n09148/lot.53.html

 

[Otter]

I always like a good Rockwell. The Problem We All Live With is one of my favorite paintings. He never referred to himself as an artist, always said he was just an illustrator. Wish I had just 1% of his talent and skill.

 

[ChiTownScion]

I loved the Willie Gillis series. Rockwell essentially illustrated the Kid Next Door serving in the Army during the Second World War, and he hit a common chord with millions.

Willie's wartime exploits reminded me of so many of the war stories my father and men of that generation told when they got together. They usually swapped tales about the funny stuff that they had to deal with: bad food, insufferable junior officers, etc. Not the horrors of war that they wanted so much to forget.

My favorite story was about one illustration that showed many history volumes with titles about the military exploits of the Gillis family in American history. After the Saturday Evening Post published that illustration, evidently Rockwell received numerous letters from individuals with the Gillis surname, asking where they could obtain those "books."

The series ended on a typical upbeat Norman Rockwell note: Willie is shown in his college dorm room crackin' the books and surrounded by a few war trophies. He obviously was taking advantage of the GI Bill like so many millions of others and was going to better his future through higher education.

 

[Stearmen]

I loved the Willie Gillis series. Rockwell essentially illustrated the Kid Next Door serving in the Army during the Second World War, and he hit a common chord with millions.

Willie's wartime exploits reminded me of so many of the war stories my father and men of that generation told when they got together. They usually swapped tales about the funny stuff that they had to deal with: bad food, insufferable junior officers, etc. Not the horrors of war that they wanted so much to forget.

My favorite story was about one illustration that showed many history volumes with titles about the military exploits of the Gillis family in American history. After the Saturday Evening Post published that illustration, evidently Rockwell received numerous letters from individuals with the Gillis surname, asking where they could obtain those "books."

The series ended on a typical upbeat Norman Rockwell note: Willie is shown in his college dorm room crackin' the books and surrounded by a few war trophies. He obviously was taking advantage of the GI Bill like so many millions of others and was going to better his future through higher education.

You are right about the GI bill. While, the collage graduates get the publicity, it was the millions of GIs that went to apprenticeships, like plumbing, carpentry, electricians, that really made the 50s so great! My own Father, never would have got of the farm, if it was not for the GI bill paying for his Electrician Journeyman apprenticeship.

 

[ckramer]

Fun little note: Willie attends Middlebury College in Vermont (you can tell by the spire of the campus church visible through his window). As a proud Middlebury alum I was delighted to see Rockwell sent his character there!

 

[p51]

I love the sleeping GI in the back of the truck. That never changes through time, you can throw a group of soldiers in the back of a truck, no matter how well-rested, and by the time you leave the parking lot, most will be dead asleep...