Norman Rockwell (American, 1894-1978) Study for Saying Grace, The Saturday Evening Post cover, November 24, 1951 Oil on paper 11-1/4 x 11 inches (28.6 x 27.9 cm) Signed indistinctly lower right: Norm / Rock Property from an Important Palm Beach Collector PROVENANCE: Joan Michelman, New York; Private collection, acquired from the above, 1998; Sotheby's, New York, May 19, 2021, lot 10; Acquired by the present owner from the above. LITERATURE: L.N. Moffatt, Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, Vol. I, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1986, p. 189, no. C458a. Norman Rockwell's Study for Saying Grace offers a close view of the development of one of his most enduring and iconic images. Painted in 1951, the study explores the subject that would appear on the November 24 Thanksgiving cover of The Saturday Evening Post: a moment of silent prayer within an overcrowded public dining room. Its small scale and freely handled paint allow the viewer to follow Rockwell's decisions about figures, setting, and color. Differences between this version and the finished painting reveal how carefully he worked to give a simple gesture broader meaning. The idea originated in a letter from a reader: In November 1950, Mrs. Edward V. Earl of Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, described to Rockwell a scene she had witnessed in a Horn & Hardart automat. A woman and a young boy, having collected their food, paused to pray at a table shared with other diners. Rockwell recognized the subject's potential for his Thanksgiving cover. He thanked Mrs. Earl for the suggestion, explaining that his interpretation might differ from the event she remembered. From the beginning, the picture would involve both observation and invention. The present study records a notably different arrangement from the familiar published image. An older woman sits with two children, their heads bowed over the table. The boy faces away from the viewer, while the girl, identifiable by the red bow in her hair, is partly concealed beyond him. At the left edge, a standing man holding a cup introduces the presence of another customer. The family occupies most of the composition, making its shared act of prayer the immediate focus. Rockwell gives this group a firm visual structure. The woman's dark clothing contrasts with the pale background, drawing attention to her lowered face and clasped hands. The boy's light shirt creates a contrasting shape at the center, framed by the curved wooden chair. Red upholstery, the girl's ribbon, and the flowers on the woman's hat enliven the restrained palette. These small accents lead the eye between the figures without disturbing the scene's stillness. Everyday objects help establish the circumstances of the gathering. The condiment containers indicate the scene is set in a public restaurant, while the umbrella and bags beside the woman suggest that the group is traveling. The empty chair at left opens the composition toward the viewer. Such details encourage us to consider the moment beyond what is shown: where the family has come from, where it is going, and how this quiet ritual fits into the day's journey. Rockwell supplies enough information to make the situation convincing while leaving its larger story open. Comparison with the finished painting shows how significantly he developed the relationship between the family and its surroundings. In the final canvas, the girl is omitted, and the grandmother and boy appear within a more crowded restaurant. Two young men sharing their table watch them, while additional customers extend the scene into the foreground and sides. The study's pale background gives way to a window overlooking an industrial setting. These changes shift the emphasis from the family alone to the response its prayer receives from others in the restaurant. That response is central to the finished painting's meaning. The surrounding diners notice the grandmother and boy, but allow their observance to continue undisturbed. The image can therefore be understood as an expression of both tolerance and gratitude. Rockwell presents respect for another person's beliefs through an ordinary encounter. The study is especially valuable in tracing this development: the bowed heads and clasped hands are already established, while the wider social setting has yet to assume its final form. Rockwell reached such compositions through extensive preparation. His process brought together preliminary sketches, photographs of posed models, detailed charcoal drawings, and painted studies. Friends, relatives, and neighbors supplied faces and gestures, while carefully selected furnishings helped make invented settings believable. For Saying Grace, his preparations included restaurant furniture brought into the studio and photographs of a railroad yard in Rensselaer, New York. These separate sources became elements in a composition assembled to serve the story. Photography provided information, but Rockwell retained control over its interpretation. "I do not work from any single photograph exclusively," he explained, "but select parts from several poses" (as quoted in R. Schick, Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera, New York, 2009, p. 101). Color studies gave the artist another opportunity to reconsider those choices. The importance of the present work lies in the visible process of revision: the arrangement of the family, the broad treatment of the background, and the balance between closely observed details and more loosely stated passages. The brushwork gives the study an immediacy distinct from the polished finish of the published Post cover: Faces emerge through short touches of warm color, clothing is organized in broad light and dark areas, and furniture is defined by decisive contours. At just over eleven inches square, the work brings the viewer close to Rockwell's handling of paint. It preserves a developed idea while leaving the artist's working decisions readily visible. The finished Saying Grace achieved exceptional public recognition. In 1955, Saturday Evening Post readers voted it their favorite Rockwell cover. Its standing was reaffirmed on December 4, 2013, when it sold at Sotheby's New York for $46,085,000, including buyer's premium—the highest price ever paid for a Rockwell at auction, a record that remains intact. The finished painting is now in the collection of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles. Study for Saying Grace offers a direct connection to the making of that celebrated image. For collectors and scholars, its differences are particularly revealing, showing how Rockwell refined both the composition and the relationship between its participants. For viewers encountering the subject for the first time, its appeal begins with the same carefully observed gestures that anchor the final painting. Together, these qualities make the present work an illuminating record of Rockwell's ability to develop a familiar human action into a narrative of lasting significance. HID12401132022 © 2026 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice

Joan Michelman, New York; Private collection, acquired from the above, 1998; Sotheby’s, New York, May 19, 2021, lot 10; Acquired by the present owner from the above.

The work is affixed to its mat with mounting corners. Light wear along extreme outer edges. Framed and matted under acrylic.