First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy created the nonprofit organization The White House Historical Association in 1961 “to help preserve the museum quality of the interior of the White House and educate the public”. The Association receives no funding from the federal government.
At an auction on November 7, the White House Historical Association was one of bidders for a group of sketches drawn by Norman Rockwell.
The four sketches titled “So You Want to See the President!” featured people in the White House Lobby waiting to see the then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The sketches hung for many years in the White House West Wing.
The sketches were removed in 2022 after a dispute over ownership.
The sketches were put up for auction by the “grandson of the White House official who had received them as a gift from Rockwell”.
The winning bid was for $5.8 million pus the buyers’ premium which brought the cost to a total of $7.25 million.
White House Historical Association Board of Directors member Anita McBride spoke on the acquisition saying, “I can’t tell you how personally thrilled I am that the White House Historical Association preserved this piece of White House history.”
Previously, the most The Association paid for an acquisition was $1.5 million for “The Builders”; a painting by Jacob Lawrence depicting working men in tones of orange, red, and brown. The painting is currently hanging in the Green Room of the White House.
The Association owns “a vast collection of art, furniture and other items as part of its mission to help the White House collect and display artifacts that represent American history and culture.”
The sketches were originally published in the “Saturday Evening Post’ in 1943.
White House Historical Association president Stewart McLaurin said, “we look forward to utilizing this acquisition to teach White House history for generations to come.”
Feature photo courtesy of The Associated Press