Norman Rockwell painting appeared 100 years ago in Clintonville paper

This illustration of Santa Claus first appeared in the Clintonville Gazette on Dec. 14, 1922.

Norman Rockwell, perhaps America’s most well-known artist, lived from 1894 to 1978. His paintings, which reflected American culture for five decades during the 20th century appeared on the covers of The Saturday Evening Post, Reader’s Digest and The Literary Digest.

Rockwell created the portrait of Santa for the Western Newspaper Union in 1922, early in his career. He was 28 years old at the time.

The artist received no monetary compensation for the work, according to the Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass.

The first member of the Western Newspaper Union syndicate to carry the illustration was the Clintonville Gazette, which later became the Dairyman’s Gazette, one of two papers which merged to become the Tribune-Gazette.

Although the painting was well-received, the original was lost shortly afterward.

Some 50 years later, however, Rockwell’s son Tom found a reproduction in his late father’s studio.

The painting again gained national attention when the Norman Rockwell Gallery in Niles, Illinois, offered a porcelain figurine version of the work.

A four-page insert describing the history of the painting and the new sculpture version appeared in an issue of Reader’s Digest.