"JFK in Contemplation"

Object number2011.034.0035

Date1968 - 1985

ClassificationsArt

Artist Bernadine Stetzel

ObjectArtwork

Credit LineBernadine Stetzel Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions37 x 28 in. (94 x 71.1 cm)

Terms

Collections

DescriptionOil painting on canvas created by artist Bernadine Stetzel showing President Kennedy in contemplation. Artist Stetzel described this piece as follows: "J.F.K. in deep thought after the Bay of Pigs crisis. The rainbow represents a favorite song of Kennedy's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," which he would listen to, helping to lift his spirits." 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 Commentary

Exhibit label: Stetzel uses a well-known New York Times photograph of President Kennedy in the Oval Office as the basis for this painting. By including a rainbow at the top of the painting, Stetzel not only alludes to one of the president’s favorite songs—Judy Garland’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”—but also adds a memorial tone to the already contemplative nature of the picture.

Curatorial Commentary

Actress Judy Garland (1922-69) sang the Academy Award-winning song “Over the Rainbow” in the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz. Stetzel read in Vanity Fair magazine that Kennedy and Garland were longtime friends, and the president was known to call the actress over the phone to request a few a cappella bars of his favorite song.

New York Times photographer George Tames (1919-94) captured one of the most famous photographs of President Kennedy in the Oval Office shortly after 5:00PM on February 10, 1961. Entitled “Loneliest Job in the World,” the photo won the 1962 Grand Award and First Prize of the White House News Photographers Association. It inspired this painting and is prominently featured in the Museum's sixth floor exhibition. – Stephen Fagin, Associate Curator