Art Journal 8-31-11: "The Runaway" by Norman Rockwell (1958)

Norman Rockwell's "The Runaway" isn't just simply a police officer and a child (runaway) sitting on stools at a diner counter. It was more about a change in the culture between generations. Sure, the painting may look as if the child and policeman are friends. However, this piece symbolizes something much different. This is the last time these cultures of youth and old would ever be this close. Through the countless wars and political controversy, the youthful generations became more and more rebellious and started to conflict with their elder counterparts. Rockwell’s “The Runaway” overlooks the fundamental rift that was rising in America throughout the late 1950s – an emerging counter culture that was not concerned with how things were in America, but rather how they are.