Iconic original vintage 9 x 12.5 photo of President Kennedy seated at his desk in the Oval Office while John, Jr., peers through a ‘secret door’ at the front of the desk, photographed by Stanley Tretick. Matted and housed in its original frame to an overall size of 13.75 x 17.5. Accompanied by a 1992 letter of provenance from Kennedy’s personal secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, which reads, in part: “This famous picture…was framed and hung in Kennedy’s small room near the Oval Office until November 23, 1963, when it was removed.” In fine condition, with a few trivial ripples.
Assigned to travel with the up-and-coming senator in 1960, United Press International photojournalist Stanley Tretick logged more miles with Kennedy during the presidential campaign than any other photographer, quickly building a strong friendship and mutually beneficial business relationship. When Kennedy took office in 1961, Tretick secured a job with Look Magazine with the promise of extensive access to the White House from the newly elected president himself. Despite Jackie’s constant fight to shield her children from public view, Kennedy understood the public relations value of images that showed him with his young family and, while his wife was out of the country in October of 1963, allowed Tretick to follow him and John, Jr. around the White House for an article on the father-son pair. This charming image, Tretick’s most famous by far, encapsulates the myth of Camelot, showing Kennedy at work as both the devoted President and the loving father. RR Auction COA.
