Rockwell, Repressed, Or, Who's Looking in the Mirror

Deborah Solomon starts her new biography of Norman Rockwell, “American Mirror,” with a joke the artist once told his therapist about a man who wants to marry an elephant. Unattainable love proved a powerful theme in the artist’s life, says Ms. Solomon. Her book’s theory: Repressed sexuality, fear of women and fascination with manhood made Rockwell’s art brilliant and his personal relationships troubled.
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In one painting, "Girl at Mirror," you say the doll in the picture could be masturbating.

Did I say that? I took out so much, you cannot imagine. You know who else is masturbating? Rosie the Riveter. Women to him were like sexual demons. [She looks up the painting.] Over here, the riveting-gun penis on her lap, and in the background these pulsating red waves. Even though she's a worker she's not working, she's just eating and satisfying her desires. But I thought it was too much—no one would agree with me—so I took just took it out.