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Photograph of courtroom sketch of Dr. Manfred Guttmacher during Jack Ruby trial
Photograph of courtroom sketch of Dr. Manfred Guttmacher during Jack Ruby trial

Photograph of courtroom sketch of Dr. Manfred Guttmacher during Jack Ruby trial

Object number2019.026.0002
Date03/10/1964
ClassificationsArt
Artist Woodi Ishmael
ObjectCourtroom sketch
Credit LineThe Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza Collection
MediumPaper, Photo
Dimensions8 1/8 × 10 in. (20.6 × 25.4 cm)
Collections
DescriptionPhotograph of courtroom pencil sketch on paper by Associated Press courtroom artist Woodi Ishmael. The sketch shows Dr. Manfred Guttmacher during the Jack Ruby trial on March 10, 1964. The sketch shows Guttmacher is four different poses as he testified during the trial. One of the sketches shows him seated at the witness stand with his hand resting against his mouth. The other three sketches show him with his head held in different positions without his arms or hands visible, with one illustrating him wearing glasses. A typed caption reads: "(DN21) Dallas, Tex., March 10-- Four Moods of Dr. Guttmacher-- This sketch by Artist Woodi Ishmael portrays four moods of Dr. Manfred Guttmacher, widely known Psychiatrist, as he testified at the Jack Ruby murder trial in Dallas today. Ruby is on trial for his life for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, accused assassin of President Kennedy. (AP Wirephoto Sketch) (cel31907wi) 1964." Ishmael's signature "Woodi Ishmael" is located in the lower right corner of the sketch. Ishmael made the original sketches for the Associated Press during the trial of Jack Ruby after the judge barred cameras from the courtroom.
Curatorial Commentary
In addition to covering the Jack Ruby trial as a sketch artist for the Associated Press, artist Woodi Ishmael (1914-1995) illustrated more than thirty-five books, painted portraits of fifty-four Air Medal of Honor winners, served as artist-in-residence aboard the HMS Queen Elizabeth 2, and illustrated for a number of publications, including the Saturday Evening Post, Cosmopolitan and National Geographic. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator
Born in 1898, Dr. Manfred Schanfarber Guttmacher passed away less than three years after testifying at the Jack Ruby trial. He died as a result of leukemia on November 7, 1966, at the age of 68. A native of Maryland, Guttmacher served as chief medical adviser to the Supreme Bench of Baltimore from 1930 until his death. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator