"Receiving Honorary Degree"
Object number2011.034.0054
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 created by artist Bernadine Stetzel that depicts President Kennedy speaking at the American University after receiving an honorary degree.
Artist Stetzel described this piece as follows: "J.F.K. receives an honorary degree from the American University. It was here that he delivered a memorable commencement speech on peace, 'the necessary rational end of rational men. I realize that pursuit of peace is not as dramatic as the pursuit of war. But we have no more urgent task.'"
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.
