A Norman Rockwell painting owned by National Press Club Journalism Institute, and the National Press Club, will be offered at auction this fall with a $10- to $15-million estimate.

“Norman Rockwell Visits a Country Editor” was a gift from the artist to the National Press Club more than 50 years ago. Proceeds from its sale at Christie's American Art auction on Nov. 19 will benefit the institute's future programs supporting journalism.

Created for the Saturday Evening Post in 1946, the painting depicts Monroe County Appeal editor Jack Blanton in his newsroom in Paris, Mo., with the artist walking in with his portfolio. 

“By 1946, not only had Rockwell’s myriad covers of the Post captured the imagination of the nation, but the artist himself was becoming a celebrity in his own right,” comments Elizabeth Beaman, Christie’s Head of American Art. “Perhaps just as importantly, Rockwell’s work adopted a new sense of earnestness in order to more accurately reflect the realities that many faced in post-War America. While Rockwell’s classic sense of idealism remained intact, his imaginative images confronting issues of the present allowed the public to identify with his interpretation of life in America.”