"White House Christmas"
Object number2011.034.0026
Date1968 - 1985
ClassificationsArt
Artist
Bernadine Stetzel
ObjectArtwork
Credit LineBernadine Stetzel Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions20 1/2 x 16 1/2 in. (52.1 x 41.9 cm)
Collections
DescriptionOil painting on canvas created by artist Bernadine Stetzel that depicts the decorated White House Christmas tree.
Artist Stetzel described this piece as follows: "Jacqueline Kennedy did much to refurbish the White House decor. This is the Christmas tree she had decorated for the Kennedy's first presidential Christmas."
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.
