Norman Rockwell

Mr. and Mrs. W. Rankin Furey, Pittsfield, Massachusetts (President, Berkshire Life Insurance Company)
By descent in the family of the above to the present owner

Laurie Norton Moffatt, Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1986, vol. I, no. A38b, p. 266, illustrated

in good condition, a small, darkish vertical line (an inch long; a light scuff?) at upper left in sky; work is encased in mat and was not removed for fear of damaging it
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In 1958, Rockwell was commissioned by Berkshire Life Insurance Company to paint a mural-sized painting for their 100th anniversary. The painting would picture Pittsfield's main thoroughfare, including Berkshire Life's first home office at 28 North Street. It would also depict such famous individuals as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Oliver Wendell Holmes, who were living in or near Pittsfield around 1851, the year the company was founded. Rockwell also intended to include portraits of some of the company's officers among the faces in the crowd. It's a holiday and the street is thronged with people. In the park, Professor So-and-so is conducting a balloon ascension. According to Berkshire Life Insurance Company, "Pittsfield was a 'balloon race start center' in the late 1800s, and the releasing of doves was a traditional part of the starting process--thus the use of the balloon as a focus in the mural." Behind the buildings are the green hills of Berkshire County. For the preliminary sketches of the street, Rockwell positioned himself at the top of a former Berkshire Life home office at the corner of Pittsfield's North and West Streets. Architect Roy Hare assisted with drafting the basic architectural framework of the buildings and street. In 1959, after the death of his wife, Mary, Rockwell asked Dean Cornwell to finish the project, but in the end, muralist Clifford Young was commissioned by Berkshire Life to complete the painting, which now hangs in the cafeteria of the home office building in Pittsfield.