We have another night of big auctions tonight, but I’m going to change the subject.
This is a sad story of a lost, or misplaced, artistic legacy. Over the years, the Coca Cola Co. commissioned many artists to make ads and trays for the company, and in the late 1920s and through 1935, Norman Rockwell was one of them. Rockwell made six paintings for Coke’s billboard and calendar ads. But somehow Coke was able to hang onto none of them. All six went missing.
Then in August 2001, it “found” Out Fishin’. Dated 1935, it portrays a young boy, resembling Tom Sawyer, sitting on a tree stump fishing, accompanied by his dog and a bottle of Coke. Coke has not disclosed where the painting was or how it came home, except to say it was located in the Atlanta area, where the company is headquartered.
Since then, two more works have found their way back to Coke, more about which below, and Coke recently launched a campaign to get the missing three back –  Office Boy – 4 p.m. – The Pause That Refreshes from 1930 (at left), The Old Oaken Bucket, 1932 (below), and Wholesome Refreshment, 1928. I first learned about this initiative from Bloomberg Business Week.
As Coke tells the story of its early 20th century interactions with artists, who included N.C. Wyeth as well as Rockwell, most of those the company engaged did not sign their work. Maybe that’s why, clearly, the company didn’t take enough care with the works — though paintings weren’t worth all that much in those days. Further, though Rockwell and Wyeth were well-known artists, these paintings were seen as commercial illustrations.
Barefoot Boy had apparently been left at the printers. It was recovered after a Coke executive received a call from the grandson of the president of a calendar printing company who reported that the company had the painting. Coke bought it back, and BW says the price was in the neighborhood of $400,000 to $600,000.
Coke found Carry Me Back to Old Virginny, from 1934, in the Atlanta area; it had been taken home by a Coke executive and his grandchildren sold it back to the company, price undisclosed.
I’m glad Coke wants the paintings for its archives. Other companies that also commissioned work by artists might follow suit. (Nabisco once published a wonderful of its advertising art; there must be others.)
Meantime, has anyone see the missing pictures?
Photo Credits: Courtesy of Coca-Cola