"The Assassination of President Kennedy" triptych oil painting by Gage Mace

Gage Mace decided on the dimensions for the piece based off of the idea of a film strip. The piece is long and narrow with three separate sections based on the idea of separate frames in a strip of film. The distinct panels separate the drama of each scene. According to the artist; "Three separate panels affords the use of fabrications external to the painting to suggest sprocket holes, further divisions between the panels, a lengthening of the overall span which could slow down that last moment even more, creating even greater suspense. In other words, emphasizing the idea of a film strip so that in a sense we are looking at a painting about a film. The simplest way of exhibiting it is with the panels abutting to present a continuous flow, and that's the way I initially exhibited it in my studio and the way I had it photographed. But the versatility of the triptych format offers a number of ways to exhibit the painting, whereas doing it on one large canvas would have been more limiting." This artwork represents one of the largest pieces Gage Mace has ever tackled.  - Stephanie Allen-Givens, Collections and Exhibits Manager

The artist used the painting technique of glazing to create the illusion of a highly reflective surface on the Presidential limousine. According to Gage Mace, "I used a glazing technique for the car in order to achieve a sense of depth and a surface that had a highly reflective quality. Glazing is an Old Master's technique often used for reflective surfaces or folds in richly colored material. Using this technique, the reflection is brought to life and the viewer sees what would be behind them reflected on the car, as well as what is happening in the car and across the street. Abraham Zapruder is given a subtle homage in this reflection - he can be spotted as a minute brushstroke standing on the concrete pedestal just above the reflection of the motorcycle fender." Additionally, a serendipitous encounter with a black Lincoln Continental the same make and model as the presidential limousine allowed the artist to take some source photos using himself and some friends as models for the eyewitnesses. As a result, he painted himself into the image in a subtle cameo that appears in the reflection on the side of the limousine. - Stephanie Allen-Givens, Collections and Exhibits Manager

Artist Gage Mace was eleven years old at the time of the Kennedy assassination. Since the 1960 campaign, Gage had been fascinated by John F. Kennedy. In his 2020 oral history with the Museum, he recalled, "I think part of JFK's appeal to me was this dynamic sense of 'we're going to get moving again' and his appeal to young people and just seeing on the news, for instance, people's response to him, how people were affected by his speeches. And his press conferences became famous almost immediately. And so, I think that got into me and into my psyche."

Gage demonstrated his childhood interest in President Kennedy by waiting on his own, at age ten, for several hours to briefly see the president in the lobby of the Beverly Hilton Hotel on August 19, 1962. That moment resonated with Gage in a profound way. He recalled, "It's still emotional, thinking back to that afternoon. But I was by the entrance, the Wilshire entrance, and I was the only one standing right there. And a man in a suit walked up to me, and he said, "Son, would you please step aside?" And so, I took about two or three steps back, and there he was. Wow! It's JFK! And he went by pretty quickly, but I was the first one in the lobby to see him enter the hotel. So, I started to applaud, and that started up the applause in the rest of the lobby. And so, I got a split second of eye contact for that, for being the kid who started up the applause.... So, it was a very short visual on me, but I did have some eye contact. And I think because of that moment, it had an effect on the way that the assassination hit me." -- Stephen Fagin, Curator