WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House Historical Association has reclaimed a series of sketches by American painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell, spending a whopping $7.25 million at auction on Friday.
The four 1940s-era sketches, titled “So You Want to See the President!”, were displayed in the West Wing for years but were removed in 2022 after a family dispute over ownership.
The sketches depict a variety of people — journalists, military officers, and even a Miss America Pageant winner and her publicist — seated on plush-looking red chairs as they waited to meet President Franklin D. Roosevelt. They were put up for sale by a grandson of the White House official who had originally received them as a gift from Rockwell.
“I can’t tell you how personally thrilled I am that the White House Historical Association preserved this piece of White House history,” said Anita McBride, a member of the association’s board of directors.
The White House Historical Association’s winning bid was $5.8 million. Including the buyer’s premium paid to the auction house, the total cost to reclaim the art came to $7.25 million. This price tag is by far the highest ever paid by the association, which holds a vast collection of art, furniture, and other items as part of its mission to help the White House collect and display artifacts representing American history and culture.
Before this purchase, the most the association had paid for an artifact was $1.5 million for “The Builders,” by African American artist Jacob Lawrence, in 2007. That work depicts hardworking men in orange, red, and brown tones, and hangs in the White House Green Room.
According to Heritage Auctions, the Dallas-based auction house that sold the sketches, these are Rockwell’s only known collection of four interrelated paintings conceived to tell a story. The series was created in 1943 and published in the Saturday Evening Post.
The association plans to share more details “about the future of this significant and historic work,” said its president, Stewart McLaurin. “We look forward to utilizing this acquisition to teach White House history for generations to come,” he added.
Matthew Costello, the association’s chief education officer, told The Associated Press that officials have discussed displaying the sketches at The People’s House: A White House Experience, an interactive White House education center that opened in September 2024.
The White House Historical Association was established in 1961 by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Its mission is to preserve the museum quality of the White House interior and to educate the public. It is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that receives no government funding.
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*This story has been updated to clarify that the total cost to reclaim the art was $7.25 million, reflecting the $5.8 million winning bid plus the buyer’s premium paid to the auction house.*
https://wgntv.com/politics-3/ap-politics/ap-white-house-historical-association-reclaims-rockwell-sketches-for-5-8-million-at-auction/