Sought-after pairing of John F. Kennedy photographs:
A first generation 20 x 24 silver gelatin photograph printed from the original 4 x 5 negative, showing Kennedy opening mail and eating breakfast at his Beacon Hill apartment. Visible on his side table is a picture of Kennedy's brother Joe, who was killed while flying a mission over Germany in 1944. This image was used as an 'official' publicity portrait photograph during Kennedy's 1952 senatorial campaign. In very fine condition. Also of significance is the rare presence of a pair of crutches to the lower right. Throughout the course of this senatorial campaign, Kennedy was hobbled by his back that forced him to rely on crutches which eventually led to life-threatening back surgery in 1954. During his recovery from this surgery, the young senator began his Pulitzer Prize-winning book 'Profiles in Courage' in 1954.
The second is a vintage 10 x 8 silver gelatin photograph printed from the original 4 x 5 negative, featuring the iconic image of a 29-year-old Kennedy standing on stage and getting ready to speak to a packed house during his 1946 congressional campaign, with the reverse bearing contemporaneous green pencil notation of “P,” meaning ‘print.’ In fine condition. One of the most famous early political photographs of JFK, who won the primary against a field of eleven contenders, and ultimately the congressional seat that November. Both of these photographs were featured in LIFE Magazine’s 2017 JFK ‘special edition’ commemorating his 100th birthday as a two-page ‘spread,’ and are accompanied by two copies of LIFE's 100-year commemorative JFK edition.
