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Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell’s sons withdraw from lawsuit against museum

Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell, Shuffleton Barbershop, 1950. Image obtained via Wikiart.org, Fair use of copyrighted image under terms of US copyright law

PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) – Norman Rockwell’s three sons have withdrawn from a lawsuit against a Massachusetts museum that wants to sell one of their father’s paintings.

The Rockwell family said in a statement Thursday the intention of the lawsuit was to prevent the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield from auctioning “Shuffleton’s Barbershop,” likely removing it from public view.

The museum last week reached an agreement with the state attorney general that would allow a sale that would keep it on public display. The painting was the image used on the cover of the April 29, 1950 issue of the Saturday Evening Post.

The family said because of that agreement, their “objective has now been achieved and therefore they do not wish to participate in further legal proceedings.”

Several other plaintiffs remain.

The museum announced the sale of 40 artworks to boost its endowment and fund a pivot away from art and toward science and natural history.

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