Norman Rockwell's 'The Rookie' Sells At Auction For $22.5 Million

BOSTON (CBS/AP) --- Norman Rockwell's "The Rookie" sold at auction Thursday for more than $20 million.

Christie's Auction House say the hammer price was $22.5 million. The painting was expected to go for between $20 and $30 million.

It originally appeared on the cover of the March 2, 1957 issue of the Saturday Evening Post.

The painting from Red Sox Spring Training shows pitcher Frank Sullivan, right fielder Jackie Jensen, catcher Sammy White, second baseman Billy Goodman and Hall of Famer Ted Williams.

The anonymous owner acquired it in 1986.

The painting was exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 2005 and 2008.

A painting that hung in the Gardner High School

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principal's office for nearly 50 years called "Willie Gillis in Convoy" sold for $1.9 million Wednesday.

In December, Rockwell's 1951 "Saying Grace" sold at Sotheby's for $46 million. It set an action record for the artist.

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