Rockwell work has Spokane tie

With an ax in one hand and a book in the other, he looms larger-than-life. His boot-clad feet trod golden leaves, his eyes focused on the book’s pages – it’s Lincoln at his most Everyman.

The iconic Norman Rockwell painting, “The Railsplitter,” had its genesis, and its home for many years, right here in Spokane.

“My father wrote to Rockwell in 1963 and asked him to paint a young Lincoln,” Karen Warrick said. “That spoke to Rockwell and he agreed.”

Her father, Donald P. “Don” Lindsay, was the CEO of Lincoln First Federal Savings and Loan and wanted a painting for the lobby of the association’s downtown headquarters. Though the bank Lincoln First Federal is long gone, the building now known as the Lincoln Building still stands on the corner of Riverside Avenue and Lincoln Street.

The commission spurred correspondence between Lindsay and Rockwell and an invitation for the Lindsays to lunch with the artist and his wife in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1964.

Lindsay paid $4,000 for “The Railsplitter.” Completed in 1965, the painting is more than 7 feet – taller than Lincoln himself – and Rockwell’s largest work.

“I hope this painting might inspire the youth of this land to appreciate this man who believed so much in the power of education,” the artist wrote in a letter to Lindsay.

For 20 years the painting hung in the lobby of the bank.

“My sisters and I grew up seeing that painting so much, we actually didn’t see it anymore,” said Warrick.

Indeed, with Rockwell’s blessing and no usage fee, the bank used the image on its signs, advertisements, coasters, jar openers, logos and letterheads.

“Dear Mr. Lindsay: It was very kind of you to send me the letterhead and I think it looks fine,” Rockwell wrote. “My best regards to you and Mrs. Lindsay.”

You can see that letterhead and Lindsay’s other memorabilia at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture through Jan. 12.

“Norman Rockwell’s America,” the first solo exhibit of Rockwell’s paintings and magazine covers in the region, opened on Oct. 5.

The exhibit features 22 oil paintings, seven charcoal or graphite studies, original posters and all 323 Post magazine covers spanning six decades. It also features 18 Rockwell items from Lindsay’s collection, including letters, photos, bank memorabilia and a signed reproduction of “Lincoln the Railsplitter.”

The original now hangs at the Butler Institute for American Art in Youngstown, Ohio.

When Lincoln First Federal Savings and Loan, which had changed its name to Lincoln Mutual Savings Bank, was bought by Washington Mutual in 1985, the painting was sent to the Seattle headquarters.

“I was told it was installed in the CEO’s office, no longer in public view,” Warrick said.

Washington Mutual eventually sold the painting to billionaire and presidential candidate H. Ross Perot for $225,000.

In 2006, Perot put it up for sale through Christie’s Auction House in New York. The Butler Institute purchased it for $1.6 million.

Wes Jessup, the MAC’s executive director, said the museum lobbied hard to borrow “The Railsplitter” for the exhibit, but the Institute is celebrating its centennial and the painting is a huge draw.

“It’s always great to connect a national exhibition to a local story, like we did with the Titanic,” he said. “And this is an amazing story. It’s sad that the painting didn’t get to stay in Spokane, but it’s wonderful it ended up in a public place where more people can enjoy it.”

Warrick is delighted by her father’s inclusion in the exhibit.

“It’s thrilling,” she said. “It’s beyond my wildest dreams.”

She’s looking forward to meeting Norman Rockwell’s granddaughter, Abigail Rockwell, when the author and Rockwell scholar appears at the MAC tonight.

As Warrick looked at her father’s collection on display she said she feels like “The Railsplitter” has come full circle.

“Dad had such a passion for the arts,” she said. “I think he’d be so happy.”