Norman Rockwell's paintings are underappreciated at first glance because they have a very direct superficial appearance. It's easy to look at it and say "OK pic

Norman Rockwell's paintings are underappreciated at first glance because they have a very direct superficial appearance. It's easy to look at it and say "OK picture" and move on, unlike an enigmatic piece that taubts you and challenges you think for a while to get anything out of it. But if you take the time to look more closely, there's often deeper meaning. His technique is double edged. Negatively, it leads to the work being dismissed too quickly. Positively, it sneaks last our mental defenses against being challenged in uncomfortable ways, and then later we notice the challenge to what we thought we already knew.