Norman Rockwell (American, 1894-1978) Study for Cheerleaders, 1952 Mixed media on paper 40-1/8 x 38-1/2 inches (101.9 x 97.8 cm) (sheet) Signed and inscribed lower right: My best wishes for a / successful art career / to Jane Bennett / Sincerely / Norman / Rockwell PROVENANCE: The artist; Jane Perkins (née Bennett), gift of the above, 1952. The present work is a study for the oil painting Cheerleaders, illustrated in L.N. Moffatt, Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, vol. I, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1986, pp. 190-91, no. C.459. It appears in an archival reference photograph in the Norman Rockwell Museum's digital collection/online catalogue raisonné (ST.1976.8338). Few artists captured the evolving American experience with the sensitivity, wit, and humanity of Norman Rockwell. Long celebrated for his depictions of everyday life, Rockwell was also—perhaps less overtly but no less powerfully—a chronicler of shifting social roles, particularly those of women and girls in mid-20th-century America. Study for Cheerleaders stands as a compelling example of this dimension of his work: a large-scale, highly finished drawing that is at once humorous, psychologically acute, and quietly progressive. At first glance, the composition is quintessentially Rockwellian. Three young cheerleaders sit on wooden chairs, their postures conveying a full spectrum of adolescent emotion in the wake of a devastating loss—fifty-four to three—shock, frustration, and exhaustion. The scoreboard looms above them, while scattered programs and a toppled megaphone suggest a game that has only just concluded; the players and crowd have dispersed, yet the girls remain, suspended in disbelief. Dressed in near-identical uniforms, they are united in purpose but sharply individualized in expression: one stares blankly ahead, another collapses into her hand in quiet defeat, while the third leans forward, utterly gobsmacked. What elevates this work beyond simple narrative illustration is Rockwell's extraordinary ability to imbue these figures with psychological depth. The scene is not about cheerleading per se, but about waiting—about expectation, performance, and the subtle tensions of group identity. These are not passive figures; they are observant, self-aware, and engaged in their own internal dramas. Rockwell grants them agency, individuality, and presence. This sensitivity to female experience places Study for Cheerleaders within a broader trajectory in Rockwell's work—one that increasingly recognized and reflected the changing roles of women in American society. A decade earlier, during World War II, Rockwell famously created Rosie the Riveter in 1943 (fig. 1), one of the most enduring images of female empowerment in American art. In Rosie, the woman is strong, capable, and central to the national effort; in Cheerleaders, that same spirit has shifted into a younger generation. The girls may not yet wield rivet guns, but they possess a comparable sense of identity and selfhood. They are participants in public life, not mere spectators. Central to Rockwell's practice—and vividly demonstrated in the present work—was his rigorous use of preparatory studies. Rather than moving directly to a finished oil, Rockwell developed his compositions through a sequence of drawings, photographs, and painted studies, refining narrative, gesture, and expression at each stage. The Cheerleaders subject is particularly rich in this regard: surviving photographs and related studies reveal the artist working with live models—young girls posed in varying arrangements, costumes, and emotional registers across multiple sessions (figs. 2-6). Each iteration presents subtle but meaningful shifts in posture, expression, and compositional balance. This process underscores not only Rockwell's technical virtuosity in the graphic medium, but also his methodical pursuit of narrative clarity. By the time he arrived at the final oil, every detail had been carefully considered, tested, and perfected. The present drawing, therefore, is not merely preparatory—it is a fully realized work that offers rare insight into the artist's creative mind at work. Technically, the work is a tour de force. Executed at a scale far larger than most preparatory studies, it demonstrates Rockwell's mastery of draftsmanship. The precision of line, the careful modulation of tone, and the intricate rendering of texture—from the polished wood floor to the folds of fabric—reveal an artist at the height of his powers. The composition is meticulously structured, yet it retains a sense of spontaneity, as though the moment has been observed rather than constructed. The history of this exceptional study is as wholesome, feminist, and Rockwellian as the work itself. The present owner, Jane Perkins (née Bennett), acquired the drawing in 1952 as a young girl growing up in Chicago (fig. 7). Already an aspiring artist by the age of fourteen, and intimately familiar with Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post covers delivered regularly to her home, Jane summoned the courage to write to the artist at his Stockbridge studio when she learned her family would be visiting the Berkshires. To her surprise, Rockwell responded, and the two arranged to meet. On a summer day in Stockbridge, while her mother and siblings waited outside, Jane and her father spent an hour inside the studio on South Street with the artist. She recalls seeing a painting on the easel, sketches and studies scattered throughout the room. Rockwell spoke to her about art, careers, and the future—treating her, in her memory, with the same seriousness and respect he would offer any adult visitor. Before she left, Rockwell knelt down, picked up the present drawing from the floor, inscribed it on the spot—"My best wishes for a successful art career to Jane Bennett, Sincerely, Norman Rockwell"—and gifted it to her. Jane would go on to become an illustrator herself, fulfilling the promise Rockwell had so warmly encouraged. She treasured the drawing for over seventy years, through a life that included both professional success and the challenges of raising a family as a working single mother. In retrospect, the subject of the work—young women navigating identity, expectation, and resilience—feels uncannily aligned with her own story. Rockwell could not have known how deeply appropriate this gift would become. In Study for Cheerleaders, he created not only a preparatory work for a finished painting, but a lasting tribute to the complexity and strength of young women—a theme that would resonate far beyond its moment of creation. Today, the drawing stands as both an important work within Rockwell's oeuvre and a deeply personal artifact of artistic mentorship. It embodies the qualities that define Rockwell at his best: technical brilliance, narrative clarity, and an abiding belief in the dignity of everyday experience. At once intimate and universal, it invites us to look more closely—not only at the figures depicted, but at the broader cultural currents they quietly reflect. HID12401132022 © 2026 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice

The artist; Jane Perkins (née Bennett), gift of the above, 1952.

Condition report available upon request.
Framed Dimensions 46 X 44.25 Inches