New York City auction features JFK photos
NEW YORK
The photograph is contained in an envelope labeled "Sensitive
Material -- May 19, 1962" with 22 other gelatin silver prints of
the event. Its presale estimate is $4,000 to $6,000.
"It's the only image of the three of them together," said
Matthew Haley, Bonhams' expert for books, manuscripts and
historical photographs. "There are very few prints of this
photo."
The collection is being offered by Stoughton's estate at Bonhams
auction house. It includes 12,000 photographs, and is
conservatively estimated to bring $200,000.
Stoughton was the first official White House photographer. He
captured public as well as intimate Kennedy moments. About 60
percent of the images are of public events. The rest are of private
moments: the children's birthday parties, family Christmases, and
vacations in Hyannis Port, Mass.
One of Stoughton's most famous images shows Lyndon B. Johnson
being sworn in aboard Air Force One following Kennedy's
assassination Nov. 22, 1963. The photo shows Johnson with his hand
raised taking the oath of office surrounded by his wife and
Jacqueline Kennedy still wearing her blood-splattered dress. It's
expected to fetch $5,000 to $7,000.
"It is one of the most iconic images of the 20th century,"
said Haley.
Johnson signed it: "To Cecil Stoughton, with high regards and
appreciation, Lyndon B. Johnson."
In the immediate chaotic aftermath of the assassination,
Stoughton learned that Johnson was being sworn in on the aircraft
on a Dallas airfield and rushed over in a car, said Haley. As he
was running across the tarmac, "the Secret Service thought it was
another assassination attempt and almost fired at him," he said.
Haley said Stoughton's camera jammed just as Johnson was about
to be sworn in but he gave it a good shake and it starting working
again.
The Monroe picture with the two Kennedy brothers was saved from
being destroyed by the Secret Service. It was taken at a private
Manhattan residence right after the actress infamously sang "Happy
Birthday" to the president at Madison Square Garden in a simmering
tight dress.
Haley said, "There apparently was a directive to the Secret
Service that Monroe not be photographed with the president."
He said agents visited Stoughton's darkroom afterward and
removed some negatives but overlooked the one of the threesome
because it was in a tray being washed.
Among the more intimate photos of the Kennedy family is one from
1962 that shows the president sitting in a chair near his desk in
the Oval Office while his children, Caroline and John-John, dance
before him. It's inscribed by Kennedy: "Captain Stoughton -- who
captured beautifully a happy moment at the White House, John F.
Kennedy."
It's presale price is $7,000 to $9,000.