"The Motorcade"
Object number2011.034.0059
Date1968 - 1985
ClassificationsArt
Artist
Bernadine Stetzel
ObjectArtwork
Credit LineBernadine Stetzel Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions20 x 34 in. (50.8 x 86.4 cm)
Collections
DescriptionOil painting on canvas created by artist Bernadine Stetzel depicting President Kennedy riding in the motorcade through the city of Dallas.
Artist Stetzel described this piece as follows: "The President and Mrs. Kennedy began their journey with a motorcade ride through the streets of Dallas."
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: One of the most intriguing examples of Stetzel’s primitive style, this scene represents Stetzel’s artistic vision of the Kennedy motorcade. Stetzel, who has never visited Dallas, created this image based on news reports and firsthand accounts of the parade.
