The Kennedys : Portrait of a Family

In the early 1960s, Richard Avedon was commissioned by Harper's Bazaar to create Observations , a column that consisted of a series of nine photographic essays. The subject of the first essay was John F. Kennedy and his young family, who sat for formal black-and-white portraits just three weeks prior to Kennedy's presidential inauguration. Six images appeared in the magazine's February 1961 issue. That same day, Avedon created more informal color portraits of Kennedy and his family at the Kennedy compound in Palm Beach. One of these images ran as the cover of LOOK magazine's February 28 issue, with photographs by Avedon inside. Just before the magazine hit the newsstands and was delivered to over 6.5 million people, a set of photographs, comprised mostly of the LOOK images, was released by the White House and appeared in newspapers across the country. During his lifetime, Richard Avedon donated more than two hundred images to the Smithsonian Institution, including all of the photographs of the Kennedy family sitting for Harper's Bazaar . Smithsonian curator Shannon Thomas Perich has culled more than seventy-five images from that donation for The Kennedys: Portrait of a Family , making these stunning photographs available for view for the first time. Perich's introductory essay?accompanied by a wealth of archival photographs of both Avedon and the Kennedy family?provides historical background on the two sittings within a political and cultural context and critically examines the work of one of the finest photographers of the twentieth century. A foreword by Robert Dallek, distinguished historian and author of the bet-selling An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963 , provides authoritative and compelling insight to one of the most fascinating presidents in American history Legendary photographer Richard Avedon provides an intimate look at the Kennedy family on the eve of John F. Kennedys inauguration. The accompanying text details all aspects of the sitting from the expectations placed on the Kennedys at the time to Jackies wardrobe choices and examines what the photographs reveal about each member of the family and their relationships to one another.Collins Design An Intimate Look At The Young Kennedy Family Through Photographs Taken By The World Renowned Photographer In The Weeks Leading Up To Jfk's 1961 Inauguration Offers Insight Into The Expectations Placed On The Family And Their Interpersonal Relationships. Richard Avedon ; Shannon Thomas Perich. Includes Bibliographical References.