NORMAN ROCKWELL

Saturday Evening Post cover March 9, 1929.

"The doctor who applies his stethoscope to a young girl's doll is attempting to acknowledge her world of enchantment. The expression on his face is as serious and concerned as it might be if he were examining the girl herself. Such a willingness to place professional expertise at the feet of childhood magic serves to remind us, again, of things we have forgotten: secret kingdoms inhabited by imaginary beings whose needs seemed as real as those of the people around us. Rockwell's physician may appear to take the doll's health seriously as an effort to gain the child's confidence and trust, but his act of sympathy is also one of grace, accepting his patient's needs with serenity." Neil Harris, from Norman Rockwell: Pictures for the American People, 1999.