Jo Seated on the Old Sofa from "The Most Beloved American Writer", Woman's Home Companion, December 1937, oil on canvas, 32 x 25 in.
Rockwell traveled to Louisa May Alcott's home in Concord, Massachusetts, before beginning illustrations for a serialized biography of her life. Alcott's book, Little Women, became an immediate classic when it was published in 1868, and was a hit again in 1933 when George Cukor's film adaptation won an Oscar for Best Screenplay. Its message---that family counts more than wealth, and happiness comes to those who help the less fortunate---was an apt revival subject in Depression-era America.
