Rockwell work at centre of controversy gets $8M at auction

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – One of the two Norman Rockwell paintings at the centre of a Massachusetts museum’s contentious decision to sell 40 works of art has been sold at auction for more than $8 million.

“Blacksmith’s Boy — Heel and Toe,” also known as “Shaftsbury Blacksmith Shop,” was sold by Sotheby’s in New York on Wednesday for $8.1 million, within the $7 million to $10 million range expected.

Rockwell gave the oil painting to the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield in 1966 as a gift when he was living in nearby Stockbridge.

The decision by the struggling museum to sell 40 works drew widespread condemnation and sparked legal challenges.

Under a deal, another Rockwell painting, “Shuffleton’s Barbershop” was sold to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles for an undisclosed price.