"Official Portrait"
Object number2011.034.0027
Date1968 - 1985
ClassificationsArt
Artist
Bernadine Stetzel
ObjectArtwork
Credit LineBernadine Stetzel Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions14 x 14 in. (35.6 x 35.6 cm)
DescriptionOil painting on canvas, artist Bernadine Stetzel's official portrait of President Kennedy.
Artist Stetzel described this piece as follows: "President Kennedy poses for his first official photo in the oval office."
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.
Curatorial CommentaryExhibit label: Stetzel painted many portraits of American presidents over the years, including several of John F. Kennedy. This painting is based on the president’s official White House portrait by photographer Abbie Rowe. Stetzel said of this painting, “Kennedy looks to me like he is proud of America.”
