That debate may rage over Norman Rockwell's place in America's cultural pantheon. It was incredibly successful in Atlanta and their big problem was that they couldn't contain all those who went to see it. That's a problem we'd be interested to have. Mass. Of the six cities on the tour, Chicago is the only one where the paintings will not be displayed in an art museum. These aren't necessarily either-or situations.
Museums tend to make their own arrangements independent of each other.
The Museum of Contemporary Art, too, was never offered the exhibit, even though it was the site in 1973 of the last Chicago showing of Rockwell's works. It's something that doesn't fit our mission. We're contemporary art. Maureen Hart Hennessey, chief curator at the Rockwell museum in Stockbridge, said the Chicago Historical Society was the only local venue her institution approached to house the tour, in a contact made almost two years ago through inter-staff connections. She said that directors at her museum, while anxious to have Rockwell's work hung in leading art museums to emphasize his standing as a painter, wanted the collection to be shown in an appropriate history venue to highlight his work's special place in Americana.