Norman Rockwell 1894 - 1978

The American Optical Company, Tillyer Lenses, New Haven, Connecticut, 1929 (commissioned from the artist)
Acquired by the present owner, 2000

Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Norman Rockwell Museum, The Picture of Health: Norman Rockwell Paintings, November 2003-May 2004, p. 6, illustrated in color p. 7
Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Norman Rockwell Museum; Old Lyme, Connecticut, Florence Griswold Museum; Kalamazoo, Michigan, Kalamazoo Institute of Art; Mobile, Alabama, Mobile Museum of Art; Fredericksburg, Virginia, Gari Melchers Home and Studio; El Paso, Texas, El Paso Museum of Art; Sandwich, Massachusetts, Heritage Museum and Gardens, Picturing Health: Norman Rockwell and the Art of Illustration, January 2007-September 2012
Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Norman Rockwell Museum, February-April 2012 (on loan)

The Saturday Evening Post, December 14, 1929, p. 6, advertisement for The American Optical Company, Tillyer Lenses
Mary Moline, Norman Rockwell Encyclopedia: A Chronological Catalog of the Artist’s Work 1910-1978, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1979, p. 175
Laurie Norton Moffatt, Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1986, vol. I, no. A801, p. 553, illustrated p. 552

Please contact the American Art department at (212) 606-7280 for a condition report provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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 'If Your Eyesight Controls Your “Great Decisions…"' appeared in the December 14, 1929 issue of The Saturday Evening Post as part of an advertising campaign for the Tillyer Lense Company's new wide-angle lenses. Storytelling became a popular marketing tool in the early twentieth century, and many American companies commissioned Norman Rockwell to illustrate their advertisements.  Rockwell’s narrative of two older gentlemen playing cards emphasizes the role eyesight plays in everyday decisions—even choosing a card—and targets an audience whose eyesight may be weakening due to the effects of aging. The bespectacled gentleman on the left sits in a relaxed position, pleased with the card he has played (an ace), while his uncertain opponent strains his eyes, laboring over his decision. Rockwell’s composition illustrates how Tillyer’s eyeglasses allow for comfortable, accurate decisions and visually promotes the company’s lenses as “one of the soundest decisions your eyes will ever help you make!”