This past Sunday, the entire clan took a pleasant drive through the foothills of the Berkshires to the quintessential New England town of Stockbridge, MA, and the Norman Rockwell Museum and park. We had come to see The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine. Yes, America’s favorite trickster mascot, Alfred E. Neuman, and “the usual gang of idiots” in the stately galleries where many of Rockwell’s iconic paintings permanently reside. In the exhibition, chief curator of the museum, Stephanie Plunket, and guest curator of the show, Steve Brodner, serve up printed rarities (notably the J. Fred Muggs finger-painted cover below) and originals that will make every cartoonist and illustrator’s mouth water.
Never have I seen the final art that filled my favorite magazine—and I was awestruck by the detailed perfection of the work by the likes of Harvey Kurtzman, Will Elder, Wally Wood, Don Martin, Dave Berg, Sergio Aragonés, Al Jaffe … and the list goes on and on.
It was also heartening to see the large number of visitors under MAD’s big tent. Sure, Rockwell draws a predictably distinct following of nostalgia buffs, but that is only a portion of the museum’s constituency. The NRM focuses much of its curatorial energy on a wider breadth of illustration genres and artists.
It’s just far enough away from conventional art institutions to be uniquely suited to bring a wide spectrum of people together through their common interest in American popular art. Our nation has been so divided along social, political and cultural lines. It is uplifting to see Rockwell and MAD (both huge influences on my life) bring so many people together.