This is a rather sad Vermont Norman Rockwell. 'The Gossips' appeared on the front of the Saturday Evening Post on March 6th 1948. 'Someone had spread a rumour about Rockwell and he painted a cover about it. As he worked on the project, Rockwell worried that his friends and neighbours might be offended, so he included his wife and himself. Mary Rockwell is second and third in the third row. In the grey felt hat in the bottom row is the artist himself. The woman at the end is the one at the beginning who started the rumour, and Rockwell appears to be giving her a piece of his mind. Apparently, the neighbour who started the rumour in real life never spoke to Rockwell again' (here).