John F. Kennedy [Plaster]
Dublin Core
Title
John F. Kennedy [Plaster]
Subject
Figure sculpture, American--20th century
Description
John F. Kennedy Memorial, 1970
Plaster original
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall M. Fredericks
1991.037
Fredericks was commissioned by the John F. Kennedy Macomb Memorial Committee to design this sculpture. It was placed between the
County Building and Courts Building on the spot where Kennedy delivered a campaign speech in October, 1960 to 20,000 spectators.
Fredericks claimed to have studied more than 100 photographs of Kennedy, most of them from the Library of Congress, while modeling preliminary busts. He claimed the pictures were of Kennedy at different ages. Fredericks never met Kennedy (he met Eisenhower and Johnson) but considered him "intense and earnest but youthful and idealistic-a dreamer." He wanted to capture the earnest feeling that Kennedy had and the youthful energy and vitality of a visionary. This work was the first presidential bust made by Fredericks. He only did one model to keep it fresh. It is 200 times the size of a human head in volume.
Plaster original
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall M. Fredericks
1991.037
Fredericks was commissioned by the John F. Kennedy Macomb Memorial Committee to design this sculpture. It was placed between the
County Building and Courts Building on the spot where Kennedy delivered a campaign speech in October, 1960 to 20,000 spectators.
Fredericks claimed to have studied more than 100 photographs of Kennedy, most of them from the Library of Congress, while modeling preliminary busts. He claimed the pictures were of Kennedy at different ages. Fredericks never met Kennedy (he met Eisenhower and Johnson) but considered him "intense and earnest but youthful and idealistic-a dreamer." He wanted to capture the earnest feeling that Kennedy had and the youthful energy and vitality of a visionary. This work was the first presidential bust made by Fredericks. He only did one model to keep it fresh. It is 200 times the size of a human head in volume.
Creator
Fredericks, Marshall M., 1908-1998
Date
1970
Rights
Use of this image requires permission from the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum
Type
Sculpture
Coverage
University Center (Mich.)
Sculpture Item Type Metadata
Physical Dimensions
48" x 26" x 28"
Materials
Plaster full-scale
Catalog Number
1991.037
Object Location
Main Exhibit Gallery
Provenance
1989 March, 22 Gift to Museum and SVSU Board of Control
Notes
Thematic tour copy:
John F. Kennedy, 1970, plaster
Cast in bronze and mounted on 6 foot marble, it's located at the Macomb County Building in Mt. Clemens, MI. It was placed between the county building and Courts Building which now covers the spot from which Kennedy delivered a campaign speech before 20,000 persons in October, 1960. Its cost was a mere $18,000 raised by the John F. Kennedy Macomb Memorial Committee.
Fredericks claimed to have studied more than 100 photographs of Kennedy most of them from the Library of Congress-while modeling preliminary busts. He claimed the pictures were of him at different ages. Fredericks never met Kennedy (he met Eisenhower and Johnson) but considered him "intense and earnest but youthful and idealistic-a dreamer." He wanted to capture the earnest feeling that he had and the youthful energy and vitality and as a visionary. This work was the first presidential bust made by Fredericks. He only did one model to keep it fresh. It is 200 times the size of a human head in volume.
Kennedy was assassinated in November of 1963 in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald.
Website reference: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jk35.html
Kennedy, John Fitzgerald (1917-1963), 35th president of the United States (1961-1963), the youngest person ever to be elected president. He was also the first Roman Catholic president and the first president to be born in the 20th century.
Biography: On November 22, 1963, when he was hardly past his first thousand days in office, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was killed by an assassin's bullets as his motorcade wound through Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was the youngest man elected President; he was the youngest to die.
Of Irish descent, he was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917. Graduating from Harvard in 1940, he entered the Navy. In 1943, when his PT boat was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer, Kennedy, despite grave injuries, led the survivors through perilous waters to safety.
Back from the war, he became a Democratic Congressman from the Boston area, advancing in 1953 to the Senate. He married Jacqueline Bouvier on September 12, 1953. In 1955, while recuperating from a back operation, he wrote Profiles in Courage, which won the Pulitzer Prize in history. He and Jackie had two children John Jr. and Caroline.
Website reference: www.encarta.msn.com
Kennedy was assassinated before he completed his third year as president. His achievements, both foreign and domestic, were therefore limited. Nevertheless, his influence was worldwide, and his handling of the Cuban missile crisis may have prevented war. Young people especially admired him, and perhaps no other president was so popular. He brought to the presidency an awareness of the cultural and historical traditions of the United States and an appreciation of intellectual excellence. Because Kennedy eloquently expressed the values of 20th-century America, his presidency had an importance beyond its legislative and political achievements.
Jennifer Lentz, Collection Documentation Intern, Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Gallery, October 23, 1991 memo:
Re: JOHN F. KENNEDY
While in the studio I found a photograph of the cast in Mt. Clemens. The plaque on the pedestal reads as follows:
JOHN F. KENNEDY
PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES
1961-1963
John F. Kennedy, 1970, plaster
Cast in bronze and mounted on 6 foot marble, it's located at the Macomb County Building in Mt. Clemens, MI. It was placed between the county building and Courts Building which now covers the spot from which Kennedy delivered a campaign speech before 20,000 persons in October, 1960. Its cost was a mere $18,000 raised by the John F. Kennedy Macomb Memorial Committee.
Fredericks claimed to have studied more than 100 photographs of Kennedy most of them from the Library of Congress-while modeling preliminary busts. He claimed the pictures were of him at different ages. Fredericks never met Kennedy (he met Eisenhower and Johnson) but considered him "intense and earnest but youthful and idealistic-a dreamer." He wanted to capture the earnest feeling that he had and the youthful energy and vitality and as a visionary. This work was the first presidential bust made by Fredericks. He only did one model to keep it fresh. It is 200 times the size of a human head in volume.
Kennedy was assassinated in November of 1963 in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald.
Website reference: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jk35.html
Kennedy, John Fitzgerald (1917-1963), 35th president of the United States (1961-1963), the youngest person ever to be elected president. He was also the first Roman Catholic president and the first president to be born in the 20th century.
Biography: On November 22, 1963, when he was hardly past his first thousand days in office, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was killed by an assassin's bullets as his motorcade wound through Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was the youngest man elected President; he was the youngest to die.
Of Irish descent, he was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917. Graduating from Harvard in 1940, he entered the Navy. In 1943, when his PT boat was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer, Kennedy, despite grave injuries, led the survivors through perilous waters to safety.
Back from the war, he became a Democratic Congressman from the Boston area, advancing in 1953 to the Senate. He married Jacqueline Bouvier on September 12, 1953. In 1955, while recuperating from a back operation, he wrote Profiles in Courage, which won the Pulitzer Prize in history. He and Jackie had two children John Jr. and Caroline.
Website reference: www.encarta.msn.com
Kennedy was assassinated before he completed his third year as president. His achievements, both foreign and domestic, were therefore limited. Nevertheless, his influence was worldwide, and his handling of the Cuban missile crisis may have prevented war. Young people especially admired him, and perhaps no other president was so popular. He brought to the presidency an awareness of the cultural and historical traditions of the United States and an appreciation of intellectual excellence. Because Kennedy eloquently expressed the values of 20th-century America, his presidency had an importance beyond its legislative and political achievements.
Jennifer Lentz, Collection Documentation Intern, Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Gallery, October 23, 1991 memo:
Re: JOHN F. KENNEDY
While in the studio I found a photograph of the cast in Mt. Clemens. The plaque on the pedestal reads as follows:
JOHN F. KENNEDY
PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES
1961-1963
Files
Citation
Fredericks, Marshall M., 1908-1998, “John F. Kennedy [Plaster],” Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum, accessed April 19, 2024, https://omeka.svsu.edu/items/show/5086.