World Art Day 2022; April 15th.

 

FORUM: The Importance of Art. World Art Day 2022.

On Friday's World Art Day, join us in celebrating the power of art to provide comfort amid global challenges, such as the #COVID19 pandemic, the climate emergency and ongoing conflict.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" - The 'Golden Rule' mosaic at UNHQ is based on the painting by US artist Norman Rockwell.

The mosaic, executed in 1985 by Coop Mosaic Artistico Veneziano and made of Murano glass tile, is a representation of Norman Rockwell's painting The Golden Rule, Norman Rockwell had previously made a 10 foot charcoal drawing of "The Golden Rule" for the United Nations. Done during the time of Henry Cabot Lodge the drawing was never finished. In an article entitled, "I Paint the Golden Rule," Rockwell stated, "Like everyone else I am concerned with the world situation and like everyone else, I'd like to contribute something to help. The only way I can contribute is through my pictures. So for a long time I had been trying to think of a subject that might be of some help. Then one day, (I don't know why or how), I suddenly got the idea that the "Golden Rule - Do unto others as You Would Have them Do Unto You: - was the subject I was looking for. Right away I got intensely excited. But how could I picture the Golden Rule? I began to make all sorts of sketches. Then I remembered that down in the cellar of my studio was the ten-foot long charcoal drawing of my United Nations picture, which I had never finished. I hauled it upstairs. In it I had tried to depict all the peoples of the world gathered together. This was just what I wanted to express about the Golden Rule." The charcoal drawing showed the Security Council in session with the peoples of the world behind them. For the people the deliberation of the council could mean peace or war. Rockwell confessed that it was he who failed to complete the painting, "I failed to carry the picture further, not because I had lost faith in the UN, but because I had lost confidence in my ability to express what I wanted to say in the picture." Once he reviewed his original drawing he knew this could be the basis for his painting.

The painting appeared on the April, 1961 cover of the Saturday Evening Post In the upper right-hand corner, the artist inserted a portrait of his late wife, Mary, holding the grandson she never saw. After The Golden Rule appeared as a magazine cover, Rockwell was presented with the Interfaith Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, a citation that he treasured.

Location (Building): Conference Building (CB); 3rd Floor.
Donor Country: Others.
Artist or Maker: Norman Rockwell.
Dimensions: 125 1/2 x 108 1/2 x 13 1/2 in.
Donation Date: June 7, 1985.

Medium: mosaic
Categories: Mosaic