One of the works that best shows the relationship between Rockwell's 'mere illustration' art and the high art of museums is his triple self-portrait.



Attached to the frame of the canvas there are small reproductions of the self-portraits of the great artists of the past: Durer, Rembrandt, Picasso, Van Gogh. Attached to the top of the easel there is an ancient helmet that Rockwell bought in Paris as if to affirm, together with the painters present, his relation to the art of the past.



Rockwell presents us with a triple image of himself: as the painter at work shown from behind, as a portrait on the canvass, and as a reflection in the mirror decorated with a large American eagle that holds the US flag in its claws. As if to say: my art is a reflection of America, and all of America is reflected in my illustrations.



The portrait on the canvass is a large, serene, likable face. It is drawn in black and white, like the first Rockwell magazine covers were drawn, symbolizing the return to the beginning of his art. The artist puts before our eyes what he has done for his whole life: at the end of his artistic production, he puts himself on the cover of the The Saturday Evening Post.