The Problem We All Live With created by Norman Rockwell in the early sixties depicts the image of an African-American girl, Ruby Bridges, walking to her new school on the first day of desegregation of the New Orleans’ public schools; November 14, 1964.
The painting shows a six-year-old Ruby Bridges, escorted by four white U. S Marshals. On the far top-left corner of the painting you can see the Ku Klux Klan initials carved on the background wall and the word “nigger” graffitied on the wall, right over Bridges. There is also a smashed tomato that has been thrown at Bridges on the lower right corner of the wall. The U.S Marshalls’ heads have been cropped of the image, maybe to show that the main focus of the painting is Ruby; who is depicted with her head held high and looking forward almost seeming oblivious to the protesters.
The painting really captures almost everything that was going on that day in a very subtle manner. The over all image makes you think about how brave Ruby Bridges really was and what a big step this was for the United States. While the details make you grasp how big some people’s anger was toward this event.
Norman Rockwell was known for capturing scenes of the everyday life. In this painting you can clearly se that his intention was to depict the whole situation like it was but to focus on the “main character”. In the image he captures the emotions of the people around Bridges by zooming in on her and focusing on the details.
The artwork is full of rich textures and details. The colors are bright and strong but the painting in general is a bit opaque, making the artwork even more interesting. You can clearly see the difference in size between Bridges and the Marshalls, them being thick and so tall that their heads do not fit in the image while Bridges is painted thin, small, and refined as is to magnify the fact that she is a little girl.
