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Lot Essay
Forever preserved in the hearts and minds of the American public as the captivating, young 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy exudes the confident elan of the ‘man from Boston’ who won the presidency at only 43-years-old and would hold office for less than three years before his tragic end. In the present painting, Jamie Wyeth captures Kennedy striding to the podium to accept the Democratic Party’s nomination at the Los Angeles Coliseum in July 1960. Painting his subject in shadowed profile against a brilliant, cheering crowd of supporters, Wyeth “sees Man From Boston as not solely a portrait of President Kennedy…but a portrait of all candidates, all people, who want to make a difference, who find themselves standing alone yet resolute before the cheering crowd.” (John F. Kennedy Library Foundation Newsletter, Summer 2004, p. 6)
Like Kennedy, Jamie Wyeth followed in his family’s tradition to national acclaim at a young age. His grandfather N.C. Wyeth was one of the great artists of America’s Golden Age of Illustration, and his father, Andrew Wyeth’s painting Christina’s World (1948, Museum of Modern Art, New York) is among the most famous works of 20th Century art. Jamie Wyeth himself is widely recognized among the great contemporary realist painters.
At only 20-years-old, Wyeth was approached by Kennedy’s grieving family, including his wife, Jackie, to paint a portrait of the late President. Wyeth agreed to create the now iconic likeness if he could keep the final painting (Portrait of John F. Kennedy, 1967), which was later acquired in 2014 by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Used to sitting in person with his portrait subjects, he embarked on extensive research on the late JFK, watching hours of video tapes, creating countless sketches, and following Robert and Edward Kennedy on their own campaign trails to discern familial mannerisms in motion. “I wanted the President’s face so engraved on my mind that I could place him in any situation I wanted,” Wyeth told LOOK magazine in 1968.
In 1976, Wyeth refocused on Kennedy as subject when painting Man from Boston, creating a more informal portrait of the President as a candidate amongst a glowing sea of fervent supporters. The artist had spent much of 1975 working on a portrait of a young, vibrant Thomas Jefferson, commissioned by Time magazine for the cover of their Bicentennial issue. This project perhaps informed his decision to revisit JFK at this time. Specifically, “Wyeth was struck by the image eight years earlier of a determined Robert Kennedy striding to the podium to deliver a speech to an enormous crowd. It was these images of John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy as candidates—representative of all candidates—that stayed with Wyeth.” (John F. Kennedy Library Foundation Newsletter, Summer 2004, p. 6)
The anonymous, yet zealous, multitude of admirers provide a glowing warmth around Kennedy, embracing him with support and spirit. In fact, according to Allan Goodrich, Senior Archivist at the JFK Library and Museum, the crowd's arrangement around him in the L.A. Coliseum in the light of the afternoon was specifically chosen for Kennedy's speech at Eastern prime time because of its cinematic qualities. As Susan Stein, Senior Curator at Monticello summarizes, “The energy of the Kennedy portrait…comes from the crowd.” (unpublished letter, 2004)
Indeed, Wyeth transforms the specific scene from the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles into an archetypal image of democracy and patriotic zeal—adding his own stamp on the long history of JFK as not only an American hero, but also an American icon. As Virginia Mecklenburg writes of famed illustrator Norman Rockwell’s painting of the same 1960 Kennedy speech, A Time for Greatness (1964, Collection of Steven Spielberg), “It is an image of promise and possibility, a statement of the optimism of a nation that assembles quadrennially to exercise the most sacred tenet of democracy—the election of its governing officials…a compelling comment on both the promise and the tragic possibilities that America's leaders face.” (Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, New York, 2010, p. 182)
Man from Boston was reproduced as a poster and in an edition of 100 signed giclees at the time of its exhibition at the JFK Presidential Library and Museum in 2004. The painting was also prominently featured on posters around Boston promoting the show.
Like Kennedy, Jamie Wyeth followed in his family’s tradition to national acclaim at a young age. His grandfather N.C. Wyeth was one of the great artists of America’s Golden Age of Illustration, and his father, Andrew Wyeth’s painting Christina’s World (1948, Museum of Modern Art, New York) is among the most famous works of 20th Century art. Jamie Wyeth himself is widely recognized among the great contemporary realist painters.
At only 20-years-old, Wyeth was approached by Kennedy’s grieving family, including his wife, Jackie, to paint a portrait of the late President. Wyeth agreed to create the now iconic likeness if he could keep the final painting (Portrait of John F. Kennedy, 1967), which was later acquired in 2014 by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Used to sitting in person with his portrait subjects, he embarked on extensive research on the late JFK, watching hours of video tapes, creating countless sketches, and following Robert and Edward Kennedy on their own campaign trails to discern familial mannerisms in motion. “I wanted the President’s face so engraved on my mind that I could place him in any situation I wanted,” Wyeth told LOOK magazine in 1968.
In 1976, Wyeth refocused on Kennedy as subject when painting Man from Boston, creating a more informal portrait of the President as a candidate amongst a glowing sea of fervent supporters. The artist had spent much of 1975 working on a portrait of a young, vibrant Thomas Jefferson, commissioned by Time magazine for the cover of their Bicentennial issue. This project perhaps informed his decision to revisit JFK at this time. Specifically, “Wyeth was struck by the image eight years earlier of a determined Robert Kennedy striding to the podium to deliver a speech to an enormous crowd. It was these images of John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy as candidates—representative of all candidates—that stayed with Wyeth.” (John F. Kennedy Library Foundation Newsletter, Summer 2004, p. 6)
The anonymous, yet zealous, multitude of admirers provide a glowing warmth around Kennedy, embracing him with support and spirit. In fact, according to Allan Goodrich, Senior Archivist at the JFK Library and Museum, the crowd's arrangement around him in the L.A. Coliseum in the light of the afternoon was specifically chosen for Kennedy's speech at Eastern prime time because of its cinematic qualities. As Susan Stein, Senior Curator at Monticello summarizes, “The energy of the Kennedy portrait…comes from the crowd.” (unpublished letter, 2004)
Indeed, Wyeth transforms the specific scene from the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles into an archetypal image of democracy and patriotic zeal—adding his own stamp on the long history of JFK as not only an American hero, but also an American icon. As Virginia Mecklenburg writes of famed illustrator Norman Rockwell’s painting of the same 1960 Kennedy speech, A Time for Greatness (1964, Collection of Steven Spielberg), “It is an image of promise and possibility, a statement of the optimism of a nation that assembles quadrennially to exercise the most sacred tenet of democracy—the election of its governing officials…a compelling comment on both the promise and the tragic possibilities that America's leaders face.” (Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, New York, 2010, p. 182)
Man from Boston was reproduced as a poster and in an edition of 100 signed giclees at the time of its exhibition at the JFK Presidential Library and Museum in 2004. The painting was also prominently featured on posters around Boston promoting the show.