Granddaughter of iconic painter claps back at White House for co-opting grandfather's work

Last Saturday, the White House shared the iconic “Saying Grace” painting by famed artist Norman Rockwell in a social media post, edited to include the caption “WORTH PROTECTING,” but on Monday, Rockwell’s own granddaughter fired off at the Trump administration for “completely” misunderstanding the painting’s meaning.

“Curtis Publishing holds the rights to that painting but I am willing to bet they didn’t request them since they never follow copyright law,” Daisy Rockwell told The Bulwark’s Catherine Rampell. “It goes without saying that they have completely misunderstood the meaning of the painting, which is tolerance for others and peaceful coexistence."

Completed in 1951, “Saying Grace” depicts a woman and boy praying while at a restaurant. Above the edited painting as posted by the White House’s official X account is the message “The values that shaped America,” just the latest example of what former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan has called the Trump administration’s leanings “into fascist aesthetics.”

Rockwell's work has previously drawn controversy among conservatives, with some Tennessee parents in 2021 objecting to school books featuring his depictions of desegregation because the images purportedly made white students "feel discomfort."

The Trump administration has frequently used Rockwell’s art in its social media posts, and Rockwell’s family argued that the iconic painter would “be devastated” if he were alive to “see that his own work has been marshalled for the cause of persecution toward immigrant communities and people of color.”