"Portrait of J.F.K."
Object number2011.034.0013
Date1968 - 1985
ClassificationsArt
Artist
Bernadine Stetzel
ObjectArtwork
Credit LineBernadine Stetzel Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
Collections
DescriptionOil painting on canvas created by artist Bernadine Stetzel that depicts a triumphant John F. Kennedy after being elected President.
Artist Stetzel described this piece as follows: "John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States, 1961-1963."
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.