Norwood MacGilvary (1874-1961)
Here and Elsewhere, c. 1944
 Norwood Hodge MacGilvary was born in Bangkok, Siam on November 14, 1874 of American parents. He studied at the University of California at Berkeley, Mark Hopkins Institute in San Francisco, with Myron Barlow in England and Laurens in Paris. A resident of New York and Providence, Rhode Island, he was again in San Francisco for an extended period during the Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915.
Norwood MacGilvary’s symbolic Here and Elsewhere (c. 1944) was inspired by current events. The cosmic scene painted by this normally realistic artist, features the moon, stars, and galaxies. The artist, who taught at Carnegie Tech between 1921 and 1943, reflects his interest in philosophy which he had earlier studied at the University of California. A giant baby sits on the earth, his raised right arm shaking a red rattle. Two eruptions are visible, referencing World War II being fought in European and Pacific theatres. The catastrophe represented by the war is also seen in the comet that streaks between the earth and the moon. But the artist’s unusual image is not without hope, although the war had not yet ended when the artist painted his canvas. Not only is the baby’s expression open and full of eager expectation, the face of God is seen at the right. His head is topped with a galaxial swirl of concern, and the intense blue of his eyes echoed in the comet. His hand protectively cradles the planet that has been wracked by global conflict.
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