Kennedy, Jacqueline | Writing to Baroness Rothschild shortly after John F. Kennedy's assassination

Works from the Collection of Jean Hart Kislak

Kennedy, Jacqueline

Autograph letter signed ("Jacqueline Kennedy"), to Baroness Rothschild, taking solace in art just two weeks after the assassination of John F. Kennedy 

2 pages (236 x 159 mm) on a single leaf of black-bordered mourning stationary, [New York], 10 December 1963; previously folded. With an autograph envelope addressed to "Baroness Rothschild | 950 Park Avenue | By Hand" bearing an additional signature from Jacqueline Kennedy, and a black-bordered printed card stating "Mrs. Kennedy is deeply appreciative of your sympathy and grateful for your thoughtfulness"; scattered soiling and wear to envelope and card.  

In the days that followed her husband's tragic death, Jackie appears to have visited with the Baroness Clarice de Rothschild for tea, and a viewing of her famed art collection (now housed, in part, at the MFA Boston). Here, she writes to the Baroness following the visit to thank her for her hospitality. Most intriguingly, she expresses a poignant affinity for Marie Antoinette, spurred by drawings she saw that day:  

"If only I could express to you how much I enjoyed coming to tea with you on Tuesday. So many visions of beautiful things are still going through my head – I cannot sort them out or decide which I loved the most – The Guardi, the bronzes, the canes, the sunflower clock, the drawings of Marie Antoinette's departure from Vienna and arrival in France - They touch me especially because I think of her..." 

PROVENANCE:

Christie's New York, 10 December 1999, lot 105