1413201
John F. Kennedy
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Magnificent Philippe Halsman image of Kennedy, inscribed and signed in person in 1958
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1917-1963. 35th President of the United States, 1961-1963. Stunning 8" x 10" Philippe Halsman portrait of Kennedy inscribed and signed To Mrs. B. J. Fayette– with esteem and very warmest regards from her friend John Kennedy. With affidavit of provenance.
This beautiful vintage black-and-white photograph has never been offered on the autograph market before. It comes from the family of the original recipient.
Kennedy signed this photograph in person in Burlington, Vermont, on the east shore of Lake Champlain, on September 26, 1958. The recipient was Anessa Fayette—Mrs. Bucas J. Fayette—who was the mother of Vermont state senator Frederick J. Fayette, the Democratic candidate for the United States Senate from Vermont. Kennedy, then a Senator from Massachusetts but already contemplating his 1960 presidential run, was in neighboring Vermont to campaign for Fayette and Vermont Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bernard Leddy, the mayor of Burlington. Kennedy drew a small crowd as he strolled down Main Street in Burlington with Fayette and Leddy on the way to a speak to a regional meeting of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
Before that, though, Kennedy had lunch at Mrs. Fayette's home on Maple Street. Mrs. Fayette had prepared a Lebanese meal for Kennedy, Leddy, and Fayette and two of his brothers. Kennedy commented to the effect that Mrs. Fayette's cooking was the best that he had ever eaten. After lunch, he inscribed and signed this portrait for her in her presence.
Frederick J. Fayette (1911-1974) received 47.8% of the vote in Vermont's 1958 United States Senate race in what was a traditionally strongly Republican state. He lost the close election to four-term Republican Congressman Winston L. Prouty. Six years later, he challenged Prouty but lost again, pulling 46.5% of the vote. On November 12, 1963, when he was considering whether to run again for the United States Senate, Fayette wrote President Kennedy to ask his personal views about his contemplated run. The letter was in President Kennedy's briefcase when Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. It appeared that Kennedy had intended to answer Fayette.
Halsman's bold images include portraits of Salvador Dali, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and even Richard Nixon jumping in the air. From the 1940s through the 1970s, Halsman’s portraits graced the covers and pages of magazines such as Life—for which he produced an astounding 101 cover photographs—Look, Esquire, and the Saturday Evening Post. He made many of the familiar portraits of Marilyn Monroe, and his photographs of the likes of Albert Einstein, Andy Warhol, Frank Sinatra, and others are classics. In 1958, a Popular Photography poll named Halsman one of the ”World’s Ten Greatest Photographers."
Kennedy has boldly inscribed and signed this photo in black ballpoint pen. The pen skipped a bit along the left edge of the inscription because of the photo's glossy surface, but on balance the inscription is bold, and the signature is unaffected. There is a small bend in the light background to the left of Kennedy's image, a couple in the left white margin, and one on the lower left corner. What appears to be a crease in the lower right corner of the image, on Kennedy's jacket, is actually a crease on the original photograph from which this photograph was made. Kennedy's inscription and signature are original, but this print was made by copying another print of this Halsman image, not from the original negative. Overall this piece is in fine condition and would be magnificent framed. Click here to see another print of this Halsman photo of Kennedy that we recently custom framed.
This signed Halsman image of JFK—one of only a very few that we have seen—has impeccable provenance. It comes with the notarized affidavit of the family member from whom we obtained it describing the circumstances under which Kennedy signed it.
Unframed. Please click here for information about custom framing this piece.
This item is no longer available.
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