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The Jockey

Norman Rockwell - The Jockey

Norman Rockwell painted this jockey weighing in for the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, June 28, 1958 edition. Also called Weighing In.

Commentary: For this Post cover, Rockwell relied on the simple drama of the event and his own sure sense of composition. There are only three elements in the picture: the jockey—Eddie Arcaro—the track steward and the scale on which Arcaro is being weighed. Rockwell makes much of the contrast in size between Arcaro and the steward, emphasizing this by having the steward hunched over, as he reads the scale, so that we feel he would literally tower over the jockey if he would only straighten up.

The composition is almost monumental in concept, but the artist has lightened it by making the most of the bright colors of the racing silks, the mud spattered on Arcaro’s white riding pants, the stripes of the steward’s shirt and other such details.

“Weighing In” shows a routine race-track event but one that is nonetheless filled with tension—a fact that is evident in the expressions of the two men. It is typical of Rockwell that he chose to portray this small, private drama rather than the very public spectacle of the race itself.

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