"The Sinking of PT 109"
Object number2011.034.0005
Date1968 - 1985
ClassificationsArt
Artist
Bernadine Stetzel
ObjectArtwork
Credit LineBernadine Stetzel Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions28 x 37 in. (71.1 x 94 cm)
Collections
DescriptionOil painting on canvas created by artist Bernadine Stetzel that depicts sinking of PT 109.
Artist Stetzel described this piece as follows: "Lieutenant John F. Kennedy became a war hero after his PT boat was struck by the Japanese ship the Amagiri on August 2, 1943. As captain of the boat he directed the rescue of the crew and personally rescued three men."
An enthusiastic supporter of John F. Kennedy, Stetzel was devastated by the assassination. Shortly after visiting the president’s gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery in 1968, she began work on a series of paintings that depicted the life of the late president. Between 1968 and 1985, with a long break in the middle, Bernadine Stetzel created 71 works that followed John F. Kennedy from his christening ceremony to the eternal flame at his gravesite.
