Saturday, June 24
Image is news. Leading off today with yet another magazine cover in the style of Norman Rockwell, this time one by J.F. Kernan. Kernan was a prolific illustrator in the 30's and his work appeared on the cover of the Post, but he was focused on the American graces of fishing, hunting, and sports. Here he tones down the sentimentality that clung to his work in the 20's, perhaps seeing that Rockwell was striking a modern emotional chord that acknowledged the hard times yet showed the public a way through them. Kernan makes the attempt, and borrows the Post's iconic circular frame to center our attention, but he's missing the Rockwellian hook, the irony, the knowing wink. Kernan's America is simpler America. Things are simple in the paper Hitler has owned since the early 20's. In their...