NOTES
The material for this book has been drawn primarily from the private records, office files, correspondence, and memoirs of the principals in the story. At the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, documents connected with the exhibition are located in the President’s Office Files, National Security Files, White House Central Files, the White House Social Files, and the various White House Staff Files as well as interviews conducted under the auspices of the Library’s Oral History Program.
At the Gallery Archives at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., information pertaining to the exhibition can be found in the Secretary-General Counsel Exhibition Files, Administrator Attendance-Special Exhibitions Files, Central Subject Files, Publications Special Exhibitions Files, Press Office Exhibition Files, Press Office Scrapbooks, and the General Curatorial Subject Files and General Curatorial Exhibition Files. At the archives of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, items related to the exhibition are housed in the Mona Lisa Exhibition Files and the museum’s exhibition scrapbooks. Although this book focuses on the American side of the exhibition, additional relevant documents are located at the archives at the Musée du Louvre, in Paris, France.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
In France, the painting is known as La Joconde, and in Italy the work is known as La Gioconda. The painting’s popular title in English is the Mona Lisa.
“stirred some impulse”: Folliard, Edward, “Escorting Mona Lisa to America,” National Geographic (June 1963): 847.
CHAPTER ONE
“ love it so at Merrywood”: New York Times, January 14, 1962, 51; also see “Less Than Merry at Merrywood,” Time, May 11, 1962.
“floating on air”: Letter, Jacqueline Kennedy to John Walker, undated, Research Files, Kennedy/Onassis, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“frenzy of excitement”: Ibid.
a ruse that he later admitted: Walker, John, Self-Portrait with Donors: Confessions of an Art Collector (Boston: Little, Brown, 1974); See Walker, John, “My Most Infamous Intrigue: The White House Cézannes,” Research Files, Loeser Collections (Cézanne Paintings), Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
outdoor scenes Cézanne had created: Shapiro, Meyer, Paul Cézanne (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2004), 88.
appeared before a national television audience: “20th Birthday of National Gallery of Art,” Accent, 1961. Audiovisual Archives Code TNC 57, John F. Kennedy Library (JFKL); Press Release, Office of the White House Press Secretary, Transcript, Mrs. Kennedy’s Remarks on Behalf of the National Gallery of Art, March 19, 1961, Research Files, Kennedy/Onassis, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; also see Washington Post, March 18, 1961, C7; Washington Post, March 19, 1961, F1; Washington Post, March 20, 1961, B5; “National Gallery of Art Hailed by Mrs. Kennedy,” New York Times, March 20, 1961.
Rotate the pictures periodically: Press Release, Office of the White House Assistant Social Secretary for the Press (concerning the installation of the Cézannes in the Green Room), May 3, 1961, Research Files, Loeser Collections (Cézanne Paintings), Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“greatness, to our walls”: Letter, Jacqueline Kennedy (JBK) to John Walker, March 8, 1961, White House Social Files, Folder, John Walker, JFKL.
Jackie wrote to Matilda Loeser Calnan: White House Memo written by Dean Rusk, “Cross Reference Sheet” (concerning the Loeser Cézannes), White House Social Files, Folder, John Walker, JFKL.
“Mr. Loeser is one of a number”: Press Release, May 3, 1961.
“suffering from ennui ”: Letter, JBK to John Walker, May 5, 1961, Research Files, Kennedy/Onassis, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; also White House Social Files, JFKL.
“These flowers were to have gone”: Letter, Tish Baldridge to John Walker, undated, Research Files, Kennedy/Onassis, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“watching everything from a chair”: Bowles, Hamish, ed., Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years; Selections from the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001), 4.
“She had a fantastic desire”: Ibid., 3.
“inside and out”: Alphand, Nicole, “Malraux: Chevalier servant de La Joconde,” La Nouvelle Revue des Deux Mondes (May 1976): 325-329.
“authentic French beauty”: Salinger, Pierre, With Kennedy (New York: Doubleday, 1966), 98.
“Her dearest wish was to hear”: Alphand, Nicole, “Malraux: Chevalier servant de La Joconde,” 325-329.
“must not feel obligated to keep his promise”: Ibid.
“get a towel and rub his head”: Lincoln, Evelyn, My Twelve Years with John F. Kennedy (Boulder, CO: Black Pebbles Publishing, 2003), 265.
congenial pleasantries during discussions: “La Presidente,” Time, June 9, 1961.
“irritating, intransigent, insufferably vain”: Sorensen, Theodore C., Kennedy (New York: Perennial Library, 1988); Smith, Marie, Entertaining in the White House (New York: MacFadden-Bartell, 1967), 197.
“dynastic complexities of the later Bourbons” and “knew more French history”: Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr., A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965), 350.
“taken over by a profound emotion”: Alphand, Nicole, “Malraux: Chevalier servant de La Joconde,” 325-329.
“What a destiny”: Todd, Oliver, Malraux: A Life (New York: Knopf, 2005) 361.
“What did you do before”: Smith, Sally Bedell, Grace and Power: The Private World of the Kennedy White House (New York: Random House, 2004), 206.
“intellectual crush” and “Malraux was her prize”: Baldridge, Letitia, A Lady, First: My Life in the Kennedy White House and the American Embassies of Paris and Rome (New York: Viking, 2001), 190; Smith, Sally Bedell, 206.
linking of Jupiter with Prometheus: “The Last Renaissance Figure,” Time, December 6, 1976.
“tattled of neglect”: “Paris at the Cleaners,” Time, September 14, 1962.
loved glory even more: Lacouture, Jean, André Malraux (New York: Pantheon, 1975), 412.
“I thought I was in heaven”: Smith, Sally Bedell, 207.
“five diamond pins”: “Tribute to Louis XIV,” Time, June 9, 1961.
“I have more confidence”: Sulzberger, C. L., The Last of the Giants (New York: Macmillan, 1970), 759.
“packed their pages with so many bouquets”: New York Times, June 3, 1961, 7.
“solidified Mrs. Kennedy’s position”: Wertheimer, Molly Meijer, ed., Inventing a Voice: The Rhetoric of American First Ladies of the Twentieth Century (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2004), 258.
“conquering the skeptical city”: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 352.
“I am the man who accompanied”: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 356.
“He spoke of the larger purposes of culture”: Anthony, Carl Sferrazza, As We Remember Her: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the Words of Her Family and Friends (New York: HarperCollins, 1997), 168.
“Culture is the sum of all the forms”: “The Rise of Mass Culture,” Time, May 25, 1962.
“He was far more interested in Jackie”: Bowles, 9.
“Now for all your thoughtfulness”: Letter, JBK to Minister Malraux, June 21, 1961, White House Social Files, Folder, André Malraux, JFKL; Todd, 361.
“Queen of Rummage sales”: Baldridge, A Lady, First, 177.
“Off to the dungeons with them”: West, J. B., with Mary Lynn Kotz, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies (New York: Coward, McCann, and Geoghegan, 1973), 229.
“Everything in the White House”: Life, September 1, 1961, 56; also see Sidey, Hugh, “Editing the First Lady, Life Magazine Goes to the White House,” White House History, no. 13 (Summer 2003), 9.
Fourteen prominent Americans: The Fine Arts Committee for the White House consisted of Mr. Henry F. du Pont (Chairman), Mr. Charles Francis Adams, Mrs. C. Douglas Dillon, Mrs. Charles W. Englehard, Mr. David E. Finley, Mrs. Albert D. Lasker, Mr. John S. Loeb, Mrs. Paul Mellon, Mrs. Henry Parish II, Mr. Gerald Shea, Mr. John Walker, Mrs. George Henry Warren and Mrs. Charles B. Wrightsman; see Abbot, James A. and Elaine M. Rice, Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1998), 22; also see Thayer, Mary Van Rensselaer, Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years (Boston: Little, Brown, 1967), 284.
“At last we have a list”: Letter, JBK to Walker, June 29, 1961, Research Files, Kennedy/Onassis, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“It is my greatest hope”: Perry, Barbara A., Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2004), 151.
Scottish artist David Martin: Bowles, 23.
“a magnificent portrait of Ben Franklin”: Adler, Bill, The Eloquent Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Portrait in Her Own Words (New York: HarperCollins, 2004), 126-127; “First Lady Rallies Wealth to Her Cause,” Washington Post, September 5, 1962; “The Franklin Portrait: Thereby Hangs a Tale,” Washington Post, December 22, 1987; Bradlee, Benjamin C., Conversations with Kennedy (New York: W. W. Norton, 1975), 123; Anthony, Carl Sferrazza, First Ladies: The Saga of the Presidents’ Wives and Their Power, 1961-1990 (New York: William Morrow and Co., 1991), 32.
Heckscher based a claim for federal support: Heckscher, August, “The Nation’s Culture: New Age for the Arts,” New York Times, September 23, 1962; also see Larson, Gary O., The Reluctant Patron: The United States Government and the Arts 1943-1965 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983), 10; Heckscher, August, The Public Happiness (New York: Atheneum, 1962).
“what kind of shape”: Anthony, As We Remember Her, 164; also see Bradford, Sarah, America’s Queen: A Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (New York: Penguin, 2000), 235; Anthony, First Ladies, 38, note 16.
“No support of the museums on a regular basis”: Quote attributed to Vivian Crespi in Anthony, As We Remember Her, 164.
“The arts had been treated as a stepchild”: Ibid., 165.
“We are bombarded every week by requests”: August Heckscher, Recorded Interview by Wolf von Eckhardt, December 10, 1965, Oral History Program, JFKL; also see Perry, 149; Anthony, First Ladies, 38-39.
“She was an original and difficult to decipher”: Cassini, Oleg, In My Own Fashion: An Autobiography (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987), 304.
“Sometimes she seemed to draw back”: Anthony, First Ladies, 38-39; also see Heckscher Recorded Interview, JFKL.
“Man of the Year”: “A Way with the People,” Time, January 5, 1962.
“I’m going to be a television star”: West, 281.
“Yes, these two chairs”: Jacqueline Kennedy White House Tour, Online Transcript, website JFKL.
“This must be scholarly”: Note, JBK to Walker, January 27, 1962, Research Files, Kennedy/Onassis, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“eliminate the purple prose”: Letter, JBK to John Walker, January 30, 1962, Research Files, Kennedy/Onassis, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“What I would really love”: Letter, JBK to John Walker, March 30, 1962, Research Files, Kennedy/Onassis, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“I would be so grateful” and “worthy of Euripides”: Note, JBK to Schlesinger, February 14, 1962; memo from Lorraine Pearce, March 5, 1962, Papers of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (#206), Subcollection 3, Writings, Box W-7, Jacqueline B. Kennedy, Correspondence, 1961-65, JFKL; also see Perry, 114-118.
“At last our guidebook is a reality”: JBK to John Walker, undated, Research Files, Kennedy/Onassis, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“too provincial,” “official flavor,” “full red carpet treatment,” and “He was deeply touched”: See Papers of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (#206), Series 10, Subject Files, 1961-1964, Box WH-15, Folder, André Malraux, JFKL.
“She was a completely disciplined creature”: Baldridge, A Lady, First, 186.
“Mrs. Kennedy is dying to personally take Malraux”: Letter, Baldridge to Mr. Gerard de la Villesbrunne, April 24, 1962, White House Social Files, Folder, André Malraux, JFKL.
“taste in telling touches”: Bowles, 69.
“Jack and Jackie actually shimmered”: Baldridge, In the Kennedy Style: Magical Evenings in the Kennedy White House (New York: Doubleday, 1998), 90.
“I think this is the most extraordinary collection”: Lincoln, Anne H., 98-99; also see “Far from the Briar Patch,” Time, May 11, 1962; the White House dinner for the Nobel Prize winners took place on April 29, 1962.
CHAPTER TWO
“ I am one of the few people”: Walker, Self-Portrait with Donors, 7; Walker was diagnosed with poliomyelitis, a disease that also afflicted President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ibid., 6.
“My curiosity about the works”: Walker, John, “Secrets of a Museum Director,” The Atlantic Monthly, February 1972; also see Kopper, Philip, America’s National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1991), 171.
“I was, and still am, an elitist”: Walker, Self-Portrait with Donors, 28.
“Can life offer any greater pleasure”: Walker, John, “Secrets of a Museum Director.”
a handsome panther bracelet designed by Cartier: Mulvaney, Jay, Jackie: The Clothes of Camelot (New York: St Martin’s, 2001), 103.
“Some paintings are in the Gallery” and Malraux museum tour: “Malraux Takes Over National Gallery Tour,” New York Times, May 12, 1962; Washington Post, May 11, 1962, C3; also see Lebovics, Herman, Mona Lisa’s Escort: André Malraux and the Reinvention of French Culture (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1999), 10. Interestingly, the Copley family were loyal to the crown and the artist painted the picture in London after his Tory family fled the revolution.
“combination of orchestra conductor and stage manager”: Sulzberger, 486.
“You should lend us”: Paris Match, December 22, 1962, 44-45.
“I learned a great deal”: New York Times, May 12, 1962, 1.
At 11:00 A.M.: “Draft Schedule Visit of André Malraux,” Papers of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (#206), Series 10, Subject Files, 1961-1964, Box WH-15, Folder, André Malraux, JFKL.
“Trust was currency”: Anderson, Jim, “End of an Era,” American Journalism Review, November 1, 2002.
“If France’s culture was imperiled”: Cate, Curtis, “Malraux at the Bastilles of Culture,” New York Times, May 6, 1962.
“Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing,” “Perhaps a loan,” and “France feels that these masterpieces”: “Mona Lisa, Other Louvre Works May be Shown at National Gallery,” Washington Post, May 12, 1962, A1; Folliard, “Escorting Mona Lisa to America,” 838. Also see Thayer, 192-196; Sassoon, Donald, Becoming Mona Lisa: The Making of a Global Icon (New York: Harcourt, 2001), 241.
“tall and gangling”: Washington Post, November 26, 1976, A1.
“Here’s a question”: Salinger, 141.
“From a Hollywood standpoint”: Folliard, Edward, “Mellon wants Connoisseurs to Aid Gallery,” Washington Post, February 25, 1935; “Art of Mellon Stored in City, Ready for Gift,” Washington Post, February 24, 1935; “Gallery Dedication to Make Capital a World Art Center,” Washington Post, March 16, 1941; “Freedom that Produces Art Shall Go On, Roosevelt Tells 7,962 at Gallery Opening,” Washington Post, March 18, 1941; “Mellon Treasure House Marking 20th Year,” Washington Post, March 12, 1961. The new National Gallery was designed by celebrated architect John Russell Pope.
While Mellon did not live to see: Davis, Margaret Leslie, The Culture Broker: Franklin D. Murphy and the Transformation of Los Angeles (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007), 244.
“This became almost an obsession with me”: Folliard, “Escorting Mona Lisa to America,” 838.
“She had a total mastery of detail”: West, 226.
“Wrinkles take on wrinkles”: Baldridge, A Lady, First, 186.
“spring fare with French flair”: Baldridge, In the Kennedy Style, 107.
“Prince of Carnegie Hall”: Baldridge, In the Kennedy Style, x.
“It would be so difficult”: Issac Stern to Mrs. Kennedy, July 16, 1961, letter as featured in “Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years, Selections from the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum,” Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C., 2002.
new crimson velvet-upholstered stage designed by Lincoln Kirsten: Abbott, James A. and Elaine M. Rice, Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1998), 65.
“How strange to give a book” and “List very good but ask”: “Jacqueline Kennedy Entertains: The Art of the White House Dinner,” Exhibition, JFKL, 2006.
“All she needed to do was fill”: Alphand, Hervé, L’Etonnement d’être: journal 1939-1973 (Paris: Fayard, 1977); also see Leaming, Barbara, Mrs. Kennedy: The Missing History of the Kennedy Years (New York: The Free Press, 2001), 195.
“I worked carefully on the guest list”: Anthony, As We Remember Her, 168.
For her formal gown: Cassini, Oleg, A Thousand Days of Magic: Dressing Jacqueline Kennedy for the White House (New York: Rizzoli, 1995), 153.
The eighteenth-century sapphire and diamond starburst diamond pin: Mulvaney, 189; also see Media Slide Show, website JFKL. Note conflict in sources whether dress was designed by Guy Douvier for Christian Dior or by Oleg Cassini; see Bowles, 99, and Cassini, A Thousand Days of Magic, 122-123.
“The total sensual appeal”: Wertheimer, 254.
“Could you write a toast” and “Would you give strict instructions”: Papers of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (#206), Series 10, Subject Files, 1961-1964, Box WH-15, Folder, André Malraux, JFKL.
“center of attention”: Baldridge, In the Kennedy Style, 104.
“I suppose all of us wish to participate” (President Kennedy’s toast): Lincoln, Anne H., 118.
“You know, these are the moments”: Baldridge, In the Kennedy Style, 109.
“Malraux himself understood”: Leaming, 196.
In a moment caught on film, Malraux whispered a promise: Bowles, 99.
CHAPTER THREE
“It did not seem appropriate”: Zöllner, Frank, “John F. Kennedy and Leonardo’s Mona Lisa: Art as the Continuation of Politics,” in Kersten, Wolfgang, ed., Radical Art History: Internationale Anthologie (Zurich: ZIP, 1997), 470.
“SOB”: Miller, John J. and Mark Molesky, Our Oldest Enemy: A History of America’s Disastrous Relationship with France (New York: Doubleday, 2004), 216-217; and Rusk, Dean, As I Saw It (New York: Penguin, 1990), 268.
“Gaullism”: Miller, 216; supporters say Gaullism enabled France to become a mediator between the superpowers during the Cold War.
“When it gets to New York”: Todd, 370.
On Sunday, Malraux and his wife joined the President: “Draft Schedule of Events,” Papers of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (#206), Series 10, Subject Files, 1961-1964, Box WH-15, Folder, André Malraux, JFKL.
“It is such an important occasion”: Anthony, First Ladies, 68.
That evening Johnson delivered a rousing speech: “Defiance of Man’s Fate,” Remarks by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson Prepared for Delivery in Response to Andréé Malraux, 50th Anniversary Dinner, French Institute, Tuesday, May 15, 1962, Papers of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (#206), Series 10, Subject Files, 1961-1964, Box WH-15, Folder, André Malraux, JFKL.
“Culture is the free world’s”: “The Rise of Mass Culture,” Time, May 25, 1962.
Whistler’s Mother: The formal title of the painting is Portrait of the Artist’s Mother: Arrangement in Gray and Black, No. 1, but is widely known under its popular name, Whistler’s Mother, and was painted by James McNeill Whistler in 1871.
“Just as one places on a tomb”: Letter, André Malraux to JBK, August 3, 1962, White House Social Files, Folder, André Malraux, JFKL.
“fiery as his red hair”: Walker, Self-Portrait with Donors, 155.
Walker confided to Jackie how difficult it was: Letter, JBK to Walker, undated, Research Files, Kennedy/Onassis, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Chesterdale called Walker with daily demands: Walker, Self-Portrait with Donors, 154.
“Mr. Chester Dale, the president of our board of trustees”: Letter, Walker to Malraux, June 4, 1962, 7A2, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa (from Director’s Office), Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“very preliminary step” and “Before the art loan”: Washington Post, June 12, 1962, B1.
“age of vandalism”: Walker, Self-Portrait with Donors, 54-55.
“You are the kindest, nicest, most thoughtful”: Letter, Walker to JBK, June 11, 1962, White House Social Files, Folder, John Walker, JFKL.
“I am sure curators of the French museums”: Letter, Mrs. Albert D. Lasker to Walker, June 21, 1962, 7A2, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa (from Director’s Office), Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“I spoke to André Malraux”: Letter, Nicole Alphand to Walker, July 28, 1962, 7A2, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa (from Director’s Office), Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“A wife in any career is important”: Walker, Self-Portrait with Donors, 35.
It was also the same time that the great art: Davis, 261-272.
The best of these were destined: Kopper, 174; Davis, 244-245.
“Their wealth, inherited or accumulated”: Walker, Self-Portrait with Donors, xi. Along with the Gallery’s first director, David Finley, Walker assisted in landing the great works of art collected by Samuel Kress, Joseph Widener, and Lessing J. Rosenwald. With great emotion Walker witnessed the gallery dedication by President Roosevelt on March 17, 1941. Ten years later, the museum had transformed into a thriving arts institution and a vital part of the nation’s cultural identity. Following David Finley’s retirement in 1956, Walker was named the museum’s second director.
Walker’s most “nefarious activity” as director (the story of the Cézannes): Walker, John, “My Most Infamous Intrigue: The White House Cézannes,” Research Files, Loeser Collections (Cézanne Paintings), Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Even though the Cézannes were not displayed in exact accordance with Loeser’s will, Walker felt the collector would have been satisfied to see the lovely Cezanne’s displayed on the walls of Jackie’s White House.
“breathless with the news”: Thayer, 195.
On October 10, Jackie asked Walker (details of the October meeting): Walker, Self-Portrait with Donors, 62; Letter, John F. Kennedy to John Walker, October 10, 1962, White House Social Files, Folder, John Walker, JFKL.
To Walker’s surprise, instead of reacting: Letter, JBK to Walker, December 2, 1963, Research Files, Kennedy/Onassis, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“ultimate cultural statement”: Wertheimer, 247.
CHAPTER FOUR
“a secret, self-dubbed think tank”: Knebel, Fletcher, “Washington in Crisis: 154 Hours on the Brink of War,” Look, December 18, 1962.
“fell upon the Louvre like a bomb”: Hours, Madeleine, Une vie au Louvre (A Life in the Louvre), Translation by Sarah Watson (Paris: édition Robert Laffont, 1987), 179 (translation by Brian Quinn).
“Pictures, like people, lead two lives”: Hours, Madeleine, Secrets of the Great Masters: A Study in Artistic Techniques (Paris: Robert Laffont, 1964), 19.
The flimsy poplar panel (details concerning condition of painting and its travels): Please see Hours, Une vie au Louvre, 179-195; Mohen, Jean Pierre, Michel Menu, and Bruno Mottin, Mona Lisa: Inside the Painting (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2006), 20, 24-27, 32; “Noted Dames Returned,” Washington Post, April 6, 1919. Also see Hours, Madeleine, “Étude analytique des tableaux de Léonard de Vinci au Laboratoire du musée du Louvre,” in Leonarado: saggi e ricerche, 13-26, Achille Marazza, ed. (Rome, 1954): Hours-Médian, Madeleine, Á la découverte de la peinture par les méthods physiques (Paris, 1957); and Hours, Secrets of the Great Masters.
The Mona Lisa rested safely on the walls of the Louvre until: “Tourist Damages the Mona Lisa: Stone Breaks Glass in Louve—Paint Slightly Chipped,” New York Times, December 31, 1956.
The rarefied world of fine art had played (the background of Madeleine Hours): Hours, Une vie au Louvre, 14-15, 19-22, 38, 42-61.
“Our tactics had backfired”: Ibid., 180.
“black mood”: Salinger, 249.
The night before, the CIA had examined aerial photographs: Chang, Laurence and Peter Kornbluh, eds., The Cuban Missile Crisis: A National Security Archive Documents Reader (New York: The New Press, 1992), iv.
“By the President’s own definition”: Watson, Mary Ann, The Expanding Vista: American Television in the Kennedy Years (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), 77.
During the next few days, Salinger kept a tally: Salinger, 250; Chang, xxi. Also present were White House advisors McGeorge Bundy, Ken O’Donnell, and Theodore Sorensen.
“My Dear Mr. President”: Letter, Walker to JFK, October 18, 1962, 7A2, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa (from Director’s Office), Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“My only excuse”: Walker, Self-Portrait with Donors, 62.
“This town is a sieve”: Salinger, 253.
Although Walker’s opening night dinner: See National Gallery of Art, Past Exhibitions, 1962, Old Master Drawings from Chatsworth, website National Gallery of Art.
“wanted her and the children to be there”: Bradford, 239.
Jackie did her best to keep: Ibid., 240.
After the filming, Caroline showed up carrying: Ibid., 241.
To increase security, Hours decided (details concerning experimental packing case): Hours, Une vie au Louvre, 179-195; Paris Match, December 22, 1962, 44-45; Mohen, 20, 24-27, 32; Todd, 366.
“After listening to her”: Walker, Self-Portrait with Donors, 63.
“Dear Mr. Walker”: Letter, JBK to John Walker, November 29, 1962, Research Files, Kennedy/Onassis, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
CHAPTER FIVE
On December 3, John Walker sent a three-page (details of French stipulations): Letter, Walker to JBK, December 3, 1962 and ‘Protocole: a soumettre à l’approbation du Gouvernement français et du Gouvernement des Etats-Unis, December 1, 1962 (form of Procedure to be submitted for the approval of the French Government and the Government of the United States), White House Social Files, Folder, John Walker, JFKL.
After reviewing Walker’s list: JBK handwritten note added to John Walker letter of December 3, 1962, White House Social Files, Folder, John Walker, JFKL.
One disgraced government official: “She’s Packed and Pampered—The Toast of Past and Today,” Life, January 4, 1963, 17.
Secret chambers where unseen guards: “Safeguarding the Treasures of the Louvre,” Washington Post, February 15, 1914.
“The unbelievable news item seems true”: “Mona Lisa: One of the Most Fragile Paintings in the World SHOULD NOT LEAVE THE LOUVRE,” Le Figaro, December 3, 1962 (translation by Sara Watson).
“endangering the world’s most famous painting”: Le Figaro, December 7, 1962, 11 (translation by Sara Watson).
“Indignant letters against the proposed journey”: “Mona Lisa,” New Yorker, December 15, 1962, 177.
Critics accused the culture minister: “Sea Trip Risks May Keep Mona Lisa at Home,” Washington Post, December 11, 1962, A1.
“curved like a warped bicycle wheel”: Ibid.
“one does not ask a pretty woman”: Newsweek, December 17, 1962.
“this surreal army”: Hours, Une vie au Louvre, 43.
Fearing its seizure: Edsel, Robert M., Rescuing Da Vinci: Hitler and the Nazis Stole Europe’s Great Art America and Her Allies Recovered It (Dallas: Laurel Publishing, 2006), i, 60, 61. The Chateau at Chambord and the Chateau de Sourches near Le Mans stored many masterworks. For further details about Mona Lisa’s hidden locations during the war, also see Hours, Une vie au Louvre.
“We listened with passion”: Hours, Une vie au Louvre, 60-61.
“Why, then, [will] the French permit”: Associated Press, “‘Mona Lisa’ Waits Release From Vault,” Christian Science Monitor, December 21, 1962, 3.
The outcry against the exhibition: “The Mona Lisa Endangered: Our Report Upsets the Americans,” The Parisien Libéré, January 3, 1963 (translation by Sara Watson).
“elaborate care and protection”: Washington Post, December 13, 1962, A1, A19, A20.
“Air Force One”: Walsh, Kenneth T., Air Force One: A History of the Presidents and Their Planes (New York: Hyperion, 2003), 63.
“as offering the safest, smoothest”: “Sub Due to Bring ‘Pieta’ Of Michelangelo to U.S.,” Washington Post, October 20, 1962. The Pietà and its traveling crate was estimated to weigh 4,000 kilograms, or approximately 8,818 pounds.
In fact, four different itineraries: “The Passenger of Cabin 79 is Afraid of Rolling,” Paris Match, December 22, 1962.
But on Saturday, December 8 (Mona Lisa announcements): “London Reports Mona Lisa Due,” Washington Post, December 10, 1962; “France May Lend U.S. ‘Mona Lisa’,” New York Times, November 30, 1962; “France Will Loan Mona Lisa to U.S.,” New York Times, December 7, 1962, 28.
At the National Gallery, Walker received: Washington Post, December 10, 1962, B1.
“Is it possible”: “The Mona Lisa Endangered: Our Report Upsets the Americans,” Parisien Libéré, January 3, 1963 (translation by Sara Watson).
“Knowing the Americans”: “People,” Time, December 21, 1962.
“Taze probably hasn’t had”: Memo, Letitia Baldridge to JBK, undated, approximately December 10, 1962; JBK quote from handwritten note added to memo, White House Social Files, Folder, John Walker, JFKL.
CHAPTER SIX
On the weekend of December 8: Washington Post, December 10, 1962, A2.
“It is understood here that he virtually promised”: Washington Post, December 11, 1962, A1.
“the final word must come from Paris”: Washington Post, December 11, 1962, A1.
“cheery look”: “Peace on Earth,” Time, December 21, 1962.
Before the questions were to begin (JFK press conference): News Conference No. 46, President John F. Kennedy, State Department Auditorium, Washington, D.C., December 12, 1962, website JFKL; “Transcript of President Kennedy’s Conference with Newsmen,” Washington Post, December 13, 1962, A14.
According to Time magazine, the one hundred-plus reporters: “Peace on Earth,” Time, December 21, 1962.
“I wanted to see it one last time”: Washington Post, December 14, 1962, A1.
“For centuries his companion”: Ibid.
Less than eighteen hours earlier along (details on parkway crash): Washington Post, December 15, 1962, A1, A6; Paris Match, December 22, 1962, 44-45.
Monsieur Jean Chatelain (Mona Lisa’s escorts): According to John Walker’s files, three French museum officials accompanied the painting: Jean Chatelain, Director of the French Museums; Mr. Tournois, Assistant Director of the laboratory of the Louvre; and Mr. Maurice Serullaz, Chief Curator of the Louvre. 7A2, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa (from Director’s Office), Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“as near as he could get”: Washington Post, December 15, 1962, A1, A6.
“I wanted to write you a note”: Letter, John Walker to Edward Folliard, December 14, 1962, 7A2, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, (from Director’s Office), Washington, D.C.
The superliner’s butchers, pastry makers, and table cooks: Life, January 4, 1963, 16.
He remembered the old song: “Mona Lisa and a White House Correspondent,” America, January 5, 1963. “That gave [Edward Folliard] the idea of having a dream a night,” his colleague Walter Abbott reported.
“I think I owe the Americans a visit” (Folliard and Mona Lisa encounter): Folliard, Edward, “Dream Interview Finds Mona Lisa Feel She Owes Americans a Visit,” Washington Post, December 16, 1962.
“whipped, whined and whistled”: Root, Waverly, “Paris Fears for Mona Lisa’s Safety in Storm at Sea,” Washington Post, December 17, 1962.
“perfectly secured”: Ibid.
“Could there be a more convincing emblem”: Adlow, Dorothy, “Mona Lisa, Amity Role,” Christian Science Monitor, December 15, 1962.
Always attuned to the deep power of symbols: Watson, 16; also see Wertheimer, 249.
“Never before had a work of art directly”: Zöllner, 472.
“Nobody suspected back then”: Cassini, A Thousand Days of Magic, 33; also see Wertheimer, 249.
Letters written by August Heckscher and John Walker: Letter, John Walker to Mrs. Frederick F. Powers, January 29, 1963, 4A16, Secretary-General Counsel, Exhibition Files, Box 5, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Walker wrote: “Other incidental expenses are being defrayed through funds made available by a private donor. I think, therefore, it would be fair to say that the exhibition has been virtually [supported] without any additional expense to the American taxpayer.” Letter, August Heckscher to Eugene W. Sutherland, May 3, 1963, White House Staff Files of August Heckscher, Series 2, Arts File, Box 13, Folder Mona Lisa, JFKL. Heckscher wrote: “The French government financed all transportation costs of the Mona Lisa from France to the United States and back. The National Gallery in Washington paid all costs of display and transportation from New York to Washington, through contribution of an anonymous private donor. The Metropolitan Museum in New York paid its display costs. Any remaining costs were handled by our government.” One theory is that on her own initiative, Mrs. Kennedy may have made arrangements for the donation of funds to the National Gallery through her close ties with Paul and Rachel Lambert (Bunny) Mellon.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Under Walker’s specific directions (details of Walker’s preparation): “Sculpture at Gallery Moved for Mona Lisa,” Washington Post, December 14, 1962; See 7A2, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Boxes 39 and 40, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C.
“At a glance, he recognized that the drawing”: Walker, John, “A Note on President Kennedy,” April 1, 1964, Research Files, Walker, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. “It is not generally known that President Kennedy had considerable discrimination in the visual arts,” Walker wrote. Walker only mentions the surname Wildenstein, but it was most likely Daniel Wildenstein (1917-2001), who represented the third generation of the Wildenstein family.
“On December 19, 1962, a motor convoy”: Letter, Walker to Commissioner Michael J. Murphy, December 14, 1962, 7A2, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Boxes 39 and 40, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“Everything seems to be progressing well”: Letter, Walker to Mme. Hervé Alphand, December 13, 1962, 7A2, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa (from Director’s Office), Box 39, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C. Robert Lehman was a longtime trustee of the Metropolitan Museum: “When a portion of Robert Lehman’s collection was exhibited at the Orangerie in Paris in 1956, it garnered accolades from French critics who might not have expected the scion of an American investment banking family to display such refined taste and robust instincts in the field of fine art.” For details on The Robert Lehman Wing, which opened in 1975, see [
www.metmuseum.org].
According to Madame Hours, at the moment (atmospheric readings): Memorandum for the File, L. D. Hayes, December 10, 1962, 7A2, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Boxes 39 and 40, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“I hope all will go well”: Letter, Madeleine Hours to John Walker, December 15, 1962, 7A2, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Box 39, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
When she was 24 years old (Folliard’s encounters with Mona Lisa): Folliard, Edward, “Dream Interview Finds Mona Lisa Feels She Owes Americans a Visit,” Washington Post, December 16, 1962, A1; “Queenly Welcome Awaits Mona Lisa at New York and in Nation’s Capital,” Washington Post, December 18, 1962, A1.
“As long as Chester was alive”: Walker, Self-Portrait with Donors, 172.
“When I think of him I have so many blocks”: Ibid., 154.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“She is Here!” (Mona Lisa’s arrival): “Queenly Welcome Awaits Mona Lisa at New York and in Nation’s Capitol,” Washington Post, December 18, 1962, A1; “Jubilation—Mona Lisa Slated to Arrive Tonight,” Washington Post, December 19, 1962, A1; “Unseen Mona Lisa Gets Dizzy Welcome,” and “Mona Lisa’s Trip here from Paris Completed,” Washington Post, December 20, 1962; “Well-Chaperoned ‘Mona Lisa’ Arrives for U.S. Visit,” New York Times, December 20, 1962, 1.
Four uniformed French line crew members (Mussorgsky): “Pictures at an Exhibition” was composed in 1874, based on ten drawings and watercolors produced by his recently deceased friend; see Frankenstein, Alfred, “Victor Hartmann and Modeste Mussorgsky,” July 1939, Musical Quarterly.
“It looked exactly like the back”: “Unseen Mona Lisa Gets Dizzy Welcome,” Washington Post, December 20, 1962, A16.
“leave a deep imprint on the cultural history”: Winship, Frederick, “Mona Lisa Given Queen’s Welcome,” Greensburg Independent News, December 19, 1962, Scrapbook, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
“The most important single work of art” (Walker’s remarks): Washington Post, December 20, 1962, A1; Press Release, Ambassade de France, Release Nos. 905-906, December 19, 1962, 14A4, Press Office Exhibition Files, Box 2, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; also see Walker’s notes, 7A2, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa (from Director’s Office), Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“I’ve nothing to declare except a hangover”: Washington Post, December 20, 1962, A1.
“nestled in a special cradle”: Washington Post, December 20, 1962, A1.
“I’ve traveled with kings”: Washington Post, December 20, 1962, A1.
“France asked us to treat Lisa”: Folliard, “Escorting Mona Lisa to America,” 844.
The Secret Service had served similar: “Secret Service Guard Assigned to Mona Lisa,” Los Angeles Times, December 19, 1962.
His code name, known only to other agents: See Historical Resources, Archives, Reference Desk, Code Names, website JFKL.
“To find a scholar and administrator”: National Gallery of Art Press Release, “Chief Curator Retires,” June 24, 1999, Research Files, Cott, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; also see Walker, Self-Portrait with Donors, 42.
“I think the Prendergast is a jewel”: Letter, Walker to John F. Kennedy, December 20, 1962, 7A2, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa (from Director’s Office), Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; also see President’s Office Files, Box 139, JFKL. Sadly, Walker did not know it at the time, but he had assisted Kennedy in selecting the final Christmas present the President would give to his wife.
At Jackie’s suggestion, Walker offered: 14A4, Press Office Exhibition Files, Box 2, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“The French to whom ceremony is no trifle”: Washington Post, December 22, 1962, A1.
“She’s covered with mold!”: Hours, Une vie au Louvre, 183.
“If anyone on the curatorial staff ”: Memo, Walker to Campbell, Sullivan, and Cooke; “Mona Lisa—Authorization to Go Into Vault X,” December 26, 1962, 7A2, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Box 40, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“our Days of Trial”: Letter, J. Carter Brown to Letitia Baldridge, January 11, 1963, 7A2, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Box 39, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“Nineteen sixty two closed for Jackie”: Bradford, 242.
“tout va bien”: Telegram, Hours to Directour Musée du Louvre, Paris, January 3, 1963, 7A2, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Box 39, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“This is my suggestion for the Mona Lisa text”: August Heckscher, Memorandum for Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., January 4, 1962, White House Staff Files of August Heckscher, Series 2, Arts File, Box 13, Folder Mona Lisa, JFKL.
“Never before had any president sought”: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 730-733.
Relay, the second U.S. communications satellite: Washington Post, August 6, 1961, A4; March 1, 1962, A6; May 4, 1962, A7; July 8, 1962, A1; July 11, 1962, A1; December 14, 1962, A1; January 6, 1963, A8; January 9, 1963, A8; January 10, 1963, A3.
It was left to Walker to orchestrate: Walker, John, “Categories for Invitations, Evening of Jan. 8,” 14A3, Press Office Exhibition Files, Box 1, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Once Jackie had submitted her lengthy list (invitation list): Walker, John, “Invitation List for the Dinner at the French Embassy, Tuesday Jan. 8,” 7A2, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Box 39, and 14A3, Press Office Exhibition Files, Box 1, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
A team of genealogists later discovered: Gherardini and Kennedy: Martin, Judith, “A Mona Lisa-Kennedy Connection,” Washington Post, November 2, 1974, E1; also see “The Renaissance Lives on in Tuscany,” National Geographic (November 1974): 9.
“There will be need for Director Walker’s humor”: Washington Post, December 20, 1962, A1.
CHAPTER NINE
“very slightly more ”: Todd, 368.
Hours expressed concern over the temperature: Memo, Perry B. Cott to NGA Administrator, January 7, 1963, 7A2, Box 39, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
The Gallery’s administrator was asked (details concerning temperature): Ibid.
He was also concerned that the huge throng (plan for audio speakers): Letter, Frank H. McIntosh to John Walker, January 15, 1963, 7A2, Box 39, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“My wife and I sincerely regret”: Telegram, Nat King Cole to the Trustees of the National Gallery, January 7, 1963, 4A16, Secretary-General Counsel Exhibition Files, Box 5, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Mindful of the rarity of the occasion: Walker, Notice to All Employees, January 7, 1963, 7A2, Box 39, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“In Vault X of the National Gallery of Art”: “‘Mona Lisa’ Waits Release From Vault,” Christian Science Monitor, December 21, 1962.
“We had discussed what Jackie should wear”: Cassini, Oleg, A Thousand Days of Magic, 181.
“were hosts at a dinner and a tableau”: “Keep Smiling,” Time, February 15, 1963.
The celebration to honor the unveiling (details of the Embassy dinner): “Invitation L’Ambassaduer de France et Madame Hervé Alphand pirnet the President et Mrs. Kennedy, Monday, January 8 at 7:30,” 7A2, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; “Keep Smiling,” Time, January 18, 1963; “Dinner at French Embassy Precedes Mona’s Welcome,” Washington Post, December 19, 1962.
“De Gaulle stayed in France”: Sassoon, 242.
Rapoport recalled that Madame Alphand: See [
rapo.com].
“It was a wonderful dinner” (recollections from Madame Hours): Hours, Une vie au Louvre, 185-190. She also added: “As for little brother Ted, she introduced me to him as a senator, despite his young age! It was a united family with overflowing charm.”
“Thanks for a nice dinner Ed!”: Thayer, 198.
“The Mona Lisa, first lady of the world”: Washington Post, January 9, 1963, A1, A5.
“It was a long awaited reunion”: Life, January 18, 1963, 38-39.
Malraux and Kennedy speeches: Papers of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (#206), Series 10, Subject Files, 1961-1964, Box WH-15, Folder, André Malraux, JFKL; also see website JFKL.
“television straddled the Atlantic via’s America’s”: “Relay Beams Da Vinci Smile to Europe’s TV,” Chicago Daily Tribune, January 10, 1963.
On international scholar noted: Zöllner, 473.
“I was exhausted and my face” (encounter between JFK and Madame Hours): Hours, Une vie au Louvre, 186-187.
“I feel worse!”: Walker, Self-Portrait with Donors, 66.
At that moment the white-capped Marine (details of the bayonet incident and its aftermath): Hours, Une vie au Louvre, 188-190.
“Madame, had you been killed”: Oral History of Catharine Bonner, Conducted by John J. Harter, National Gallery of Art Oral History Program, June 2, 1989, 103-107, 32A4, Oral History Program, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (Bonner was a longtime administrative employee); also see Lebovics, 12-13.
“attended by the entire listing”: “Debut is Cataclysmic,” Daily News, January 9, 1963, Mona Lisa Exhibition Scrapbook, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“Everything went wrong that night”: Oral History of Catharine Bonner, Conducted by John J. Harter, National Gallery of Art Oral History Program, June 2, 1989, 32A4, Oral History Program, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 103-107.
“the world’s most powerful nation”: New York Times, January 9, 1963, A1; also see Todd, 368-369.
“I want to thank you for all you”: Letter, Walker to Malraux, January 9, 1963, 7A2, Box 40, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“Last night I suddenly heard Jackie”: Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr., Journals 1952-2000 (New York: Penguin, 2007), 187; also see Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 671.
“Dear Jackie”: Walker to JBK, January 11, 1963, 7A2, Box 40, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“I am taking the veil”: Adler, 105.
The last occasion when the Gallery had seen: Washington Post, December 22, 1962, A1; “Paintings from the Berlin Museums,” March 17-April 25, 1948; see website National Gallery of Art.
“Dear John”: Letter, JBK to John Walker, January 15, 1963, White House Social Files, Folder, John Walker, JFKL; also Research Files, Kennedy/ Onassis, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“The most powerful nation in the world”: Cassini, A Thousand Days of Magic, 178. “Success changes people, and I saw Jackie change as she grew in confidence, as did the President. When the whole world is applauding, I think its natural,” Cassini said.
“She had dreaded coming to the White House”: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 671.
CHAPTER TEN
“Unfortunately, Ernie Feidler had great”: Letter, John Walker to Donald D. Shepard, January 14, 1963, 7A2, Box 40, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“The late Andrew W. Mellon”: Folliard, Edward, “Culture Booming in the National Capitol,” America, January 26, 1963.
“I’m frozen stiff”: Washington Post, January 10, 1963, A1, B1.
“It is not a knock-out at first glance”: Ibid.
“The American interest is not always the French interest”: “Monsieur No,” Time, January 18, 1963.
“Mr. Minister, we in the United States”: “Remarks of the President at Ceremony in Honor of the Mona Lisa at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., January 8, 1963,” 7A2, Box 40, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; also see website JFKL.
“No French newspaper has remarked”: Lebovics, 24.
“So tangled are the strains and stresses”: New Republic, January 19, 1963, 29-30.
“Think of people seeing it generations from now” and Green Room restoration: Letter, JBK to Averell and Marie Harriman, June 22, 1962, Harriman Papers, Library of Congress; also see Smith, Sally Bedell, 343; Washington Post, January 23, 1963, D1.
“The Yellow Oval Room was the most completely”: See Abbott, 173.
On January 14, alarming news came (Klee burglary): Tampa Florida Times, January 14, 1963, Mona Lisa Exhibition Scrapbook, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“most comprehensive smile in the folios”: “‘Mona Lisa’ Waits Release From Vault,” Christian Science Monitor, December 22, 1962.
“The enthusiasm and adoration showered”: Exhibition Catalogue, “On the Occasion of the Exhibition of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, Lent to the President of the United States and the American People by the Government of the French Republic, 1963,” Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“There is a quality to the brush work”: San Antonio Texas News, January 13, 1963, Mona Lisa Exhibition Scrapbook, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
“The fine and well-pumiced gesso” and “Portrait of Mona Lisa” (Catalogue description): Exhibition Catalogue. Walker’s Exhibition Catalogue added: “The artist labored more than four years to paint the small picture. Mona Lisa’s smile, which has been the object of countless explanations, resulted according to Vasari, Leonardo’s contemporary, from the fact that Leonardo ‘retained musicians who played and continually jested’ in order to amuse the portrait’s sitter.”
“The work actually produces a strange”: Mohen, 12; Mohen serves as general curator of the French Center for Museum Research and Restoration and the Louvre.
“Chère amie”: Letter, Perry B. Cott to Madame Madeleine Hours, January 16, 1963, 17A3, General Curatorial Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Box 6, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“an important misconception”: Lebovics, 20, 22.
“The Mona Lisa is more than an extraordinary”: Todd, 369.
Postcards featuring the masterpiece: Perry, 132.
“I made one enemy in life”: John Walker, Interview by Anne G. Ritchie, October 23, 1990, National Gallery of Art, Oral History Program, 71-72.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The weather could not have been more miserable (weather report): “Wet Weather Swept Away by Icy Wave,” Washington Post, February 4, 1963.
“MONA GO HOME!”: Washington Post, January 10, 1963, B1.
“The old lady was on her way”: New York Times, February 11, 1963, 6.
“There are many things in Aristotle”: Dudley, Earl, “Mona Lisa Begins NY City Visit, Vies with Rembrandt,” Schenectady Gazette, February 7, 1963, Mona Lisa Exhibition Scrapbook, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
“We’ll have literally balls of dust”: “Mona Lisa,” New Yorker, February 9, 1963.
Rorimer had sent “spies” (Rorimer’s preparations at the Metropolitan Museum): “N.Y. Readies for Visitor,” Christian Science Monitor, January 16, 1963, 7; “New York Smiles Back at ‘Mona Lisa’,” Christian Science Monitor, February 8, 1963; “Mona Lisa Opens Run in New York,” New York Times, February 8, 1963; also see Mona Lisa Exhibition Scrapbook, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
“We are now all breathing more easily”: Letter, Perry B. Cott to Madame Madeleine Hours, February 5, 1963, 17A3, General Curatorial Exhibition Files, Mona Lisa, Box 6, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
In the Army he served in the Monuments: Deitch, Joseph, “NY Readies for Visitor,” Christian Science Monitor, January 16, 1963, 7.
He supervised construction of the Cloisters: “Double Loss,” Time, May 20, 1966.
“Ridiculous”: “It Cost $2.3 Million; Moving Bill $63,” New York Herald Tribune, November 17, 1961.
“I found that if they never did anything”: John Walker, Interview by Anne G. Ritchie, October 23, 1990, National Gallery of Art, Oral History Program, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“As you drew near the beautiful antique”: Connoisseur, May 1963, 66.
“self-admitted lover of the finer things”: “Mona Lisa Opens Run in New York,” New York Times, February 8, 1963; Philadelphia Inquirer, February 8, 1963, 1.
“the biggest thing since Cleopatra”: Life, January 4, 1963, 18.
“Women will be aiming high for beauty”: “Famed Mona Lisa Inspires Hairdo,” Boston Herald, January 8, 1963, Scrapbook, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The moment had been artfully coordinated: Grant, Donald, “Mrs. Kennedy Mends Two Fences At Luncheon with Stevenson, Thant,” St. Louis Post Dispatch, February 8, 1963, Scrapbook, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
“smoothed over one of the biggest protocol flaps”: “First Lady Helps End Protocol Rift,” Chicago Illinois News, February 8, 1963, Scrapbook, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
“In a single whisper-voiced appearance”: Grant.
In the first seven days of the New York exhibition: “Memo to the Press,” Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 5, 1963, Archives, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
On Valentine’s Day, Rorimer announced: “Metropolitan Museum Will Remain Open Mondays through Fridays Until 9 PM as a Result of Great Interest in Mona Lisa,” News for Release, February 15, 1963, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 14A3, Press Office Exhibition Files, Box 1, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
So many city dwellers came to see the portrait: “Mona Lisa,” New Yorker, February 9, 1963.
“approach the sacred crypt”: Sassoon, 245.
“The fact that the Lady”: Connoisseur, May 1963, 66.
“The responsibility for the painting”: John Walker, Memorandum for the Files, February 8, 1963, 4A16, Secretary-General Counsel Exhibition Files, Box 5, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Walker speech: John Walker, “Statement at Closing of Mona Lisa Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum,” March 6, 1963, 7A2, Box 39, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Walker penned more than a dozen drafts of a receipt: “Receipt, March 7, 1963,” 4A16, Secretary-General Counsel Exhibition Files, Box 5, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“I am informed that the Mona Lisa”: Letter, JFK to de Gaulle, March 8, 1963, President’s Office Files, Series 9, Countries, Box 116, Folder 14, JFKL.
“Dear Mr. President”: Letter, Walker to JFK, March 18, 1963, 7A2, Box 39, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“The visit of the Mona Lisa to the United States”: Letter, Walker to M. Jean Chatelain, March 28, 1963, 7A2, Box 39, Central Files, Subject Files, Mona Lisa (from Director’s Office), Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“As the Mona Lisa resumes her place”: Letter, Charles de Gaulle to JFK, March 19, 1963, President’s Office Files, Series 9, Countries, Box 116, Folder 14, JFKL.
“the second hardest job in the U.S.”: “Big Year for the Clan,” Time, April 26, 1963.
The council would be comprised of thirty: “President Planning to Create Council of Advisers in Arts,” New York Times, April 1, 1963.
The President’s Advisory Council on the Arts was enacted: Executive Order 11112, see [
www.presidency.ucsb.edu]. In furtherance of the administration’s goal of positioning the arts to assume their rightful place “among other concerns of government,” Executive Order 11112 was signed by the president on June 12, 1963. Also see Larson, 152-180.
“beguiling and persuasive letter”: Bowles, 10.
“Indeed more than any other space”: Abbott, 173.
“I never dreamt anything so perfect”: Thayer, 252.
“A million, million thanks!”: Ibid.
But the month of August also brought: Folliard, Edward, “Kennedy Baby is Buried in Boston After Rites at Cardinal’s Residence,” Washington Post, August 11, 1963, A1.
On August 11, Caroline Kennedy: “Flowers for Caroline’s Mommy,” Washington Post, August 12, 1963, A1.
The two, he said, had brought a pause: Folliard, Edward, “President Warns of Perils Despite Cold War Pause,” Washington Post, October 20, 1963, A1.
“If art is to nourish the roots”: “Remarks At Amherst College, President John F. Kennedy,” Amherst, Massachusetts, October 26, 1963, see website JFKL; also see Folliard, Edward, Washington Post, October 27, 1963, A1.
The trans-Atlantic connection of the two great museums: “National Gallery’s Latest Acquisition to Have D.C. Paris TV Debut Today,” Washington Post, November 17, 1963, A1.
As Goodwin was about to take over: Anthony, As We Remember Her, 170: “I hoped one day to have a minister for the arts in the cabinet,” Jackie said later. “Much groundwork would have to be done before that would be possible.” The president’s arts consultant, August Heckscher, left his post in June 1963 after he issued his findings on how the administration could best initiate a formal link between the federal government and the cultural arts. Official presidential action on the recommendations had been delayed.
“It’s a good idea”: Bowles, 11.
Newsman Edward Folliard was traveling (Folliard in Dallas): Edward Folliard, recorded interview by William M. McHugh, March 30, 1967, John F. Kennedy Library Oral History Program, JFKL; also see Folliard’s features in the Washington Post, November 23, A1 and A2, November 24, A1, and November 26, A1.
“It was all gone now”: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 1030-1031.
“While we are at the Capitol”: West, 312-313.
“She gave an example to the whole world”: Anthony, First Ladies, 104.
On Monday, December 2 (Harriman home): “Moving Out,” Time, December 13, 1963.
“My Dear Johnny”: Letter, JBK to John Walker, December 2, 1963, Research Files, Kennedy/Onassis, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. On Wednesday, December 4, 1963, the four Cézannes were returned to the National Gallery. House on the Marne and The Forest remained displayed on the walls of Jackie’s beloved Yellow Oval Room until 1985, when, after twenty-four years, they were returned to the National Gallery. In December 2005, one of Jackie’s pictures, The Forest, was returned to the White House where it remains to this day. See “Loeser Cezanne Paintings Summary Chronology,” Research Files, Loeser Collections (Cézanne Paintings), Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
EPILOGUE
“The visit of the Mona Lisa”: Walker, Self-Portrait with Donors, 63.
“Ambassador Tut became a force of moderation”: Knight, Christopher, “The Boy Shill: How King Tut Evolved from Cold War Cultural Ambassador to Today’s Corporate Pitchman,” Los Angeles Times, August 28, 2005, E35.
“She refused to give up”: “Once in Camelot,” Time, May 30, 1994.
“As she had in the White House”: Keogh, Pamela Clarke, Jackie Style (New York: HarperCollins, 2001), 204.
“Missing Her”: New York Daily News, 1.
“In a public sea she steered a private”: New York Times, May 21, 1994, 1.
“By maintaining her own unique identity”: Sorensen, x.
“I would say that in some ways”: Keogh, 14.
“Throughout her life, my mother took”: Kennedy, Caroline, The Best Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (New York: Hyperion, 2001).
“Thank you for writing me about the President’s portrait”: Letter, JBK to John Walker, October 6, 1965, Research Files, Kennedy/Onassis, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“brilliant red wheelchair”: “John Walker: A Washington Love Affair with Great Art,” Guardian, October 20, 1995.
“left him on tranquilizers” and “Will O’Dale”: New York Times, October 17, 1995, D-25.
John Walker died on October 16, 1995: Washington Post, October 17, 1995, B1, D4.
He died of lung cancer at the age of seventy-seven: “André Malraux, 75, Dies in Paris; Writer, War Hero, de Gaulle Aide,” New York Times, November 25, 1976.
Twenty years later, Malraux’s body: Lebovics, ix.
“For the most part”: Todd, x.
“That’s the one story I just wish”: Edward Folliard, recorded interview by William M. McHugh, March 30, 1967, John F. Kennedy Library Oral History Program, JFKL.
In 1969, President Nixon (details of his relationship with President Nixon) and “Broadly speaking”: Washington Post, November 26, 1976, A1, B13; also November 27, 1976, A14.
The picture left the Louvre again (Mona Lisa’s trip to Tokyo): Hours, Une vie au Louvre, 256-269.
“an additional envelope”: Ibid., 158. “Of course we couldn’t protect her from the hazards of all possibilities, Madam Hours said, “including the possibility of an explosion [aboard the aircraft].”
Madame Hours watched with great emotion: Ibid., 264.
“I saw a bright red light like a rocket”: Ibid., 264.
“Did you see it?”: Ibid., 265.
Once the painting was returned to the Louvre, and “some play”: Mohen, 27-28.
French engineer and inventor (French and Canadian researchers): “New Look at ‘Mona Lisa’ Yields Some New Secrets,” New York Times, September 27, 2006.
Images of the scanned painting: “Mona Lisa Had ‘Wider Smile’ and ‘Eyebrows,’”
The Economic Times, October 24, 2007; “25 Secrets of Mona Lisa Revealed,” at [
LiveScience.com]; also see Mohen, 94-110.
“wheeled away”: International Herald Tribune, April 6, 2005, 11.
“She’s like a living person”: “Fans Hail Mona Lisa’s New Setting,” BBC News, April 6, 2005.
Mona Lisa temperature: “Techniques That Might Smile Upon Mona Lisa,” New York Times, January 1, 2005.