The association between the Boy Scouts of America and Norman Rockwell lasted more than six decades, yielding dozens of commissioned maturing portraits that evoke American virtue, bravery and culture.
But now, in the face of tens of thousands of sexual abuse complaints, the indebted organization is positioned to do the unthinkable: sell its Rockwell art collection.
In a reorganization plan presented to the federal bankruptcy court in Delaware this week, Boy Scouts listed nearly 60 works of art by Rockwell, the sale of which would help raise money for a settlement fund of at least $ 300 million for victims of sexual abuse. .
The names of the paintings include “The Right Way”, “On My Honor” and “I Will Do My Best”. The years in which they were completed range from 1916 to a lithograph in 1976, two years before Rockwell’s death in 1978.
“The plan demonstrates that considerable progress has been made as we continue to work with all parties to achieve our strategy of providing equitable compensation to victims and meeting our other financial obligations so that we can continue to serve young people for years to come” , said the Boy Scouts said in an e-mailed statement Tuesday night.
Last February, the organization, facing an avalanche of sexual abuse complaints that now exceeds 82,000 cases, filed for bankruptcy protection.
It was not immediately clear whether the collection was evaluated and for how much. The 379-page lawsuit in court on Monday did not include values for each work of art, and the Boy Scouts did not elaborate on how much the organization would look for the collection.
Many of the paintings are oil on canvas and were commissioned over the decades by Boy Scouts, who hired Rockwell to illustrate “The Boy Scout’s Hike Book” in 1912. He soon became an art editor for Boys’ Life, as the organization’s monthly magazine. it was called at the time.
A prominent Rockwell biographer suggested on Tuesday that the value of the paintings in the Boy Scout collection may be more sentimental compared to some of Rockwell’s most prized works, which she said was never a Boy Scout.
Deborah Solomon, an art critic and author of “American Mirror: The Art and Life of Norman Rockwell,” said in an email late on Tuesday that while Rockwell’s Boy Scout paintings were extremely famous, they did not they were among his best works.
In 2013, “Saying Grace,” a Rockwell painting not associated with Boy Scouts that appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on November 24, 1951, raised $ 46 million when auctioned by Sotheby’s. The following year, “After the Prom” was sold for $ 9.1 million and “The Rookie” for $ 22.5 million.
Ms. Solomon, a frequent contributor to The New York Times, noted that many of the Scout paintings were attributed to Rockwell, often for calendars, with the organization often dictating the subject and overloading it with rules.
“He was not at liberty to invent or imbue the canvases with his usual range of closely observed details,” she said.
One of the most notable examples came in 1941, when Rockwell produced a popular painting in which a scout, facing a hurricane, carries a young girl to safety, according to Mrs. Solomon.
“Although the batter is standing in the rain, his uniform is dry and well ironed,” she said. “Rockwell was annoyed when he was told to paint a single drop of water that he initially painted on the batter’s uniform.”
Many of Rockwell’s Scout paintings have been on display at the Medici Art Museum in Howland, Ohio, since last year, as part of a free exhibition that is still in progress.
Katelyn Amendolara-Russo, associate director of the museum, said in an email late on Tuesday that the museum was informed that the collection could be sold in bankruptcy when it signed a deal with the Boy Scouts in 2019 to host the exhibition. She added that the museum will continue to exhibit Rockwell’s works for as long as possible.
“We are obviously disappointed in this because it is a wonderful display of Scouting in action for over 100 years, portrayed by one of America’s greatest artists, Norman Rockwell, who has had a longstanding passion for Scouting,” she said.
Scout officials said that many aspects of the reorganization plan were still being refined through mediation and that the organization hoped to move out of the Chapter 11 reorganization by autumn.
So, what would Rockwell think of the Boy Scouts separating from their award-winning works?
“I am sure he would be horrified to learn of the sexual assault charges,” said Solomon, “and I think he would like the Boy Scouts to sell his collection of paintings for the purpose of creating a fund for victims and rewarding children and ex -children who deserve compensation. “