Norman Rockwell (American, 1894-1978) Boy Scout Hiking, 1960 Oil on canvas 35-1/4 x 21-1/4 inches (89.5 x 54.0 cm) Signed lower right: Norman / Rockwell Numbered lower left: 7714 Property from the BSA Settlement Trust, Sold for the Benefit of Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse EXHIBITED: National Scouting Museum, Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky, n.d. LITERATURE: Boy Scout Handbook, The Boy Scouts of America, 1960, cover; W. Hillcourt, Norman Rockwell's World of Scouting, New York, 1977, pp. 120-21, illustrated; L.N. Moffatt, Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, Vol. I, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1986, pp. 284-85, no. A80, illustrated; J. Csatari, Norman Rockwell's Boy Scouts of America, New York, 2009, p. 77, illustrated (as Boy Scout Handbook Cover). With the approach of the Boy Scouts of America's Golden Anniversary in 1960, celebrating 50 years of the organization's founding, a new edition of the Boy Scout Handbook was issued. Norman Rockwell was commissioned to create a special cover image commemorating the milestone, continuing a tradition he began in 1927 with his first Boy Scouts handbook cover. The present work formed the basis for that cover, with Rockwell's central scout figure retained in the final composition, while supplementary background vignettes depicting activities at Philmont Ranch were contributed by other artists (fig. 1). In preparation, Rockwell posed a uniformed model in his studio, carefully studying the stance and expression that would define the finished image. When submitting his concept to the Boy Scouts' art director, he included a handwritten note, preserved on an archival photograph from his studio, asking, "Doesn't this give the feeling of ‘Come with me on the adventure of Scouting?'" That aspirational spirit is fully realized in the completed painting, which stands as a quintessential expression of Rockwell's scout imagery and a fitting culmination of his longstanding association with the Boy Scouts of America. HID12401132022 © 2026 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice

National Scouting Museum, Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky, n.d.

Condition report available upon request.
Framed Dimensions 37.5 X 24 Inches