Mad Magazine at the Norman Rockwell Museum

I visited the fantastic exhibit about Mad Magazine at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Its collection of Mad original art and artifacts is absolutely amazing.

First, I love the Norman Rockwell Museum — I've been visiting for decades, and recommend it for everyone. Rockwell is such an important American artist, his art is so instantly accessible and appealing, and their collection of his iconic paintings is unbelievable. On its beautiful grounds is Rockwell's studio, moved from the town center of Stockbridge where he worked, and it's fascinating to see.

The museum's special exhibit "What, Me Worry? The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine" runs through October 27, and as a lifelong Madman (and onetime member of the usual gang of idiots), I can say that this is an extremely impressive collection. It was co-curated by master illustrator Steve Brodner and museum Chief Curator Stephanie Haboush Plunkett, with former Mad art director and cartoonist Sam Viviano as Lead Advisor.

There are a couple of instances in the exhibit of the intersection of Mad and Norman Rockwell. How cool is this pairing of original paintings?

And there's a display of a fascinating 1964 correspondence between Mad art director John Putnam (who was also a resident of Stockbridge, MA) and Rockwell, negotiating the commission of the "definitive painting of the sly little elf Alfred E. Neuman, who represents our mascot and ubiquitous presence."

On July 1, Putnam writes to send Rockwell reference material. "As per your request, we are enclosing some material on our little idiot boy." And he requests that he and others from Mad be permitted to come to Stockbridge when the painting is in progress to take pictures, "so that we can use this for a covering story about what is undoubtedly the peak of MAD's history."

On July 10, editor Al Feldstein writes a confirmation letter of the deal for a "charcoal portrait of your interpretation of MAD's trademark boy, Alfred E. Neuman for $1,000," and on approval, an additional $2,000 for a full-color oil painting.

Alas, Rockwell had apparently already written a letter on July 2 to Putnam, pulling the plug on the project:

Dear Mr. Putnam:

I'm scared. I think I better back out of this one.

After talking with you, and my wife who has a lot more sense than I have, I feel that making a more realistic definitive portrait just wouldn't do.

I hate to be a quitter, but I'm afraid we would all get in a mess.

And the world is poorer for it.

I'm tempted to post pictures of original art from all of Mad's luminaries, but I'd better keep it to just a few. The rooms are just bursting with amazing art by some of the most important cartoonists of all time.

Sergio Aragones. Look at his stylish note for how to reduce his "Marginal Thinking" drawings for issue #159.

Al Jaffee's Fold-In feature. Al told me that he would devise and paint these illustrations with only the theoretical understanding that they would work when folded. He wouldn't see what they look like "folded in" until he received the printed magazine.

There is also an interactive video exhibit for viewing the Fold-Ins.

Mort Drucker's Lassie satire.

Norman Mingo's cover for #108

"Spy vs. Spy" by its creator Antonio Prohias. This artwork is actually owned by…

… Peter Kuper, who took the strip over after Prohias stopped.

There's even a Frank Frazetta, the famed fantasy illustrator, doing a humorous piece on Tarzan.

And here's the cover of ~16-year-old Robert Crumb's collaboration with his brother Charles on a 1959 self-published Mad knockoff, Foo. The brothers somehow decided to sign Mad creator Harvey Kurtzman's name on it.