Saturday Evening Surprise

“Setting of the Decoys” by New Regionalist artist Bryan Haynes, who has a studio and gallery in downtown Washington, is featured on the cover of the September/October issue of The Saturday Evening Post.

By Karen Cernich Dickhut

Most people who visit Bryan Haynes’ studio in downtown Washington don’t even notice the framed letter from Norman Rockwell hanging on the wall. Dated March 12 1974, the letter is a response to one that a teenage Haynes sent to Rockwell in support of his artwork and illustrations.

If you’re younger than 40, you may not recognize the Rockwell name. He was an American artist and illustrator who became popular for his iconic depiction of American culture in the first half of the 20th century and is best known for his illustrations featured on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.

Haynes, an internationally acclaimed artist who has been represented by galleries from New York to San Francisco to St. Louis and whose commercial work has graced the pages of national magazines, international advertising campaigns, posters and book covers, hadn’t given much thought to the 1974 letter himself until this summer, when he received a request from Patrick Perry, editor of the Saturday Evening Post, to feature one of Haynes’ original paintings on the cover of the September/October issue.

Suddenly, his career had come full circle.

Haynes had only been painting for a few years when he wrote to Rockwell in 1974.

“I had just always admired his work and copied his paintings in oil when I was starting at 11 years old,” Haynes said. “My dad encouraged me always as an artist in making this a career, and he probably just said, ‘Well you should write to him! See what happens.’ ”

Haynes had been familiar with Rockwell’s work from a young age. His father had a considerable library of books, including many wonderful art books from all periods.

“My brother Michael and I were brought up knowing about the great illustrators — N.C. Wyeth, Howard Pyle, Rockwell and many others. We also took a family road trip around 1972 to New England, one of our stops being in Stockbridge, Mass., where our jaws dropped to see the local museum of (Rockwell’s) works,” Haynes said. “Just blocks away was his house, where my brother and I wandered and had the idea to knock on the door of the studio behind the house. Thankfully, no one came to answer as I’m not sure what we had in mind, and I’m now very glad we didn’t bother the artist!”

Bryan Haynes’ Studio is located at 10 W. Second St. in downtown Washington. For more information, go to www.artbybryanhaynes.com/. To make an appointment to see his work, call 636-544-1016 or email at artbybry@aol.com.

‘The Optimism We All Need Right Now’

Haynes almost missed seeing the June 2 email from Perry. It was stuck in his spam folder.

“I haven’t looked in my spam folder in months, and I don’t know what made me think to look that day, but thank God I did,” Haynes said. “I forwarded him a high-res image within the hour, because I couldn’t believe it was really happening.” 

Perry was requesting a specific painting of Haynes, “Setting of the Decoys,” which he had created in fall 2018.

“I’ve been learning more and more about decoys through some wonderful people who commissioned a painting about that subject matter because they are collectors of decoys. It is an incredible art form itself,” Haynes said.

The art of carving decoys goes back centuries, and some decoys can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars, Haynes noted.

“Setting the Decoys” was a personal piece that Haynes created on his own and later sold to a collector in La Jolla, Calif.

“I wanted an optimistic view of an autumnal scene, what is going to come later in the day with the hunt, just a very positive view,” he said. “I have an idea that’s why they selected this piece, because of what we’re all going through right now. It is the forward looking, sun-on-your-face optimism that we all need right now.”

‘Completes a Circle’

Haynes is proud to have his art included in the Saturday Evening Post, which has featured the work of some of a number of great illustrators: Howard Pyle, NC Wyeth, Mead Schaefer . . . 

“I don’t put myself in that league at all, but that’s why it’s such a treat. It’s really pushing the line for me to be in the lineup with these guys. It just kind of completes a little circle with this letter that hangs in my gallery,” Haynes said.

He feels fortunate to have that letter, especially considering that Rockwell died just a few years after sending it.

“It’s a little bit of a form letter,” Haynes said. “I suspect his wife sat down at the typewriter and typed it out, and he just signed it, but they made the effort, and I think that’s pretty cool.”

Although Haynes was excited about receiving it back in 1974, he credits his father with saving it.

“When I graduated from the ArtCenter in California and started a career as an illustrator, he framed it, and when I moved back to Missouri in the late ’80s, he gave it to me, and it’s been in my studio ever since,” Haynes said.

Most days the letter blends into the background at Haynes’ studio, but the recent request from Saturday Evening Post has brought back all the excitement Haynes felt upon receiving it back in 1974.

“It just kind of languished, and it was a nice thing to see and remember, mostly remembering my brother, dad and I going out water color painting on a Sunday afternoon together in rural Missouri on a gravel road somewhere, which we did occasionally. That’s what (the letter) brings to mind to me,” Haynes said.  

When he moved his gallery to Washington a few years ago and his studio became more of a public space, a few people who toured the studio took note of the letter and were excited by it.

“It’s fun to see that reaction,” Haynes said. “When school groups come in, the students don’t have any idea who Rockwell even was, but the older people go, ‘Oh my gosh!’ ”

The Saturday Evening Post

Next year will mark the 200th anniversary of The Saturday Evening Post, a magazine that traces its roots to Benjamin Franklin and has chronicled American history in the making.

In addition to Rockwell, the Post is known for publishing the work of such literary greats as Ray Bradbury, Agatha Christie, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edgar Allan Poe, J.D. Salinger, and Kurt Vonnegut, and continues to seek out and discover emerging writers of the 21st century.

Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., the Post is a nonprofit organization funded primarily by members. It is currently published six times a year, offering readers an American take on vital issues of the day. Subscribe at saturdayeveningpost.com.

For more information on the artwork of Bryan Haynes, go to artbybryanhaynes.com. To make an appointment to see his work, call 636-544-1016 or email him at artbybry@aol.com.

Haynes at work in his Washington studio.