A MAD Museum Stop
Part 1 of Inspiration at The Norman Rockwell Museum
Wolf Criers Club
Vol 18
The Wolf Criers Club is exploring inspiration. What inspires you? Tell us in the comments.
Today’s newsletter is about a museum stop that offered a whole lot of insight.
An end-of-summer outing with friends had me traveling through the Berkshires in Massachusetts in early September. We took the opportunity to check out an exhibition at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Lenox. I had heard the exhibit featured covers and artwork from Mad Magazine. Because my early art career began as a caricaturist, a chance to see a wellspring collection on display intrigued me.
What I thought would be an interesting diversion while we stretched our legs turned into a fantastic walk through a century of American pop culture and humor.
“What, Me Worry? The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine” is much more than a room or two of cover art, sequential panels, and gags. It is a curated and planned passage spanning the mid to late 20th Century of irreverent takes on politics, art, and culture from varied points of view between the pages of MAD.
The show occupies six rooms on the primary museum floor and features original art, pieces from private collections, and of course, a wall of magazine covers.
The Rockwell Museum takes this look at ragged, silly, and sometimes rude humor seriously.
As we walked along the walls observing the details jammed into every inky rectangle, an unexpected thing started happening. People looked deeply at the art and began talking to me about it, and I was talking to them.
Some of this conversation reflected on what is was like to hold the magazines as young people. Others pointed at caricatures and we helped each other name the celebrities they represented. We discussed thoughts about the relevance of the depictions at the time they were created and what they mean to us viewing them now.
One popular wall was dedicated to the artwork of the ‘Fold-Ins” – large images that were printed on the back covers of the magazine. By folding the paper onto itself a new picture was made. This action of making an accordion fold on the page would create a new meaning embedded in the art, usually with a punchline or a contrasting point about the big picture message.
The size of the artwork drawn or painted for the pages and spreads is several times larger than the printed versions. This is how so much detail could be included.
I enjoyed seeing the gigantic panels depicting Spy vs Spy, which was always a favorite. The museum highlighted the political tensions and concerns being lampooned. I was reminded how humor is a tool that offers a means to express anxiety that we relieve with laughter.
On the way out of the museum, we stopped by the store to pick up the book about the exhibit. The book is formatted as an issue of MAD Magazine with a stapled spine and a Rockwell self-portrait parody on the cover. Perfect.
"What, Me Worry? The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine," on view at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Lenox, Massachusetts through October 27, 2024
More than 150 original works of art will be on view, including a special highlight gallery devoted to the art of Mort Drucker, the award-winning caricaturist and illustrator who contributed to MAD for more than five decades.
Special Online Presentation September 28th:
Join Steve Brodner on Saturday, September 28 from 3 – 4:30 pm for a Virtual Program: Coming of Age with MAD
The presentation will touch on the many ways MAD Magazine with its rich mix of satire, anti-establishment critique, and irreverent humor helped shape the ethos of an entire generation and set Brodner on his path to becoming one of the nation’s foremost political cartoonists. $10, Rockwell Museum Members free
Check out some images from the exhibit HERE.
This week’s newsletter is from Wolf Crier Kato McNickle.
Wolf Criers Club is a collective of illustrators, writers, innovators, and wolves. We explore aspects of dynamic storytelling each week through pictures and words, how to improve, and where to take it next. Why not run with us?
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The wolf-wearing-glasses logo is by Wolf Crier Michael Luk.
Wonderful article Kato. Thank you for walking us through the exhibit. Mad magazine was very much a part pop culture we all fondly remember.
Color me peanut butter and jealous. I was a Mad Mag junkie as a kid. My sons are still fighting about who gets them when I’m gone!