NR-2007 Mini Plate, Breaking Homes Ties. 4-1/4" plate with 23K Gold Etched Border.

Many of Rockwell's paintings were filled with pathos. In "Breaking Home Ties", both the father and the collie sense that things will never be the same. Norman had a particular feeling for this subject, for its theme touched home.

Norman had difficulty deciding on the proper setting, as none seemed to convey the feeling that the boy was leaving home to go to college. Finally he had the idea of the father and son sitting on the running board of an old, beat-up truck beside the tracks of a rural train station. The son, dressed his Sunday best, waits for the train. The father has the face and the hands of a man who has spent most of his life in the fields. He is lost in his own thoughts, contemplating the passage of time.