Photorealism
- Kennedy Motorcade
- Sisters of the Immaculate Conception
- Farb Family Portrait
- Macarena of Miracles
- Crayola
- Self-Portrait
- Buddha
- World War II
- Marilyn
- We Are All Light and Energy
Kennedy Motorcade. 1964.
Oil on canvas, 38x42" - Private Collection
| Kennedy Motorcade was first portrait by Audrey Flack
to be derived from a color photo (Flack 21). It portrays John and
Jackie Kennedy
in the convertible taking them from the plane to the parade
route in downtown Dallas. Flack would later state that people were horrified
by the subject matter, though it now seems mild. It shows smiling, happy
people, and you know that a moment later JFK will be shot and killed. This
piece moved Flack into a new style, one in which she used the qualities
of color as real light (Nemser 266).
Kennedy Motorcade also represents a new subject matter for Flack: not only an unfolding storyline, but also the inclusion of metaphoric figures. The man in the frontseat, Texas governor, has his hand in his coat jacket, which to Flack seemed sinister. A shadow falls across JFK, which Flack included to suggest the ominous future. We fill in the tragic end to this scene: the rest is just the context (Gouma-Peterson 52). I found the controversy of the subject matter of the Kennedys interesting. I do not believe it would have caused the same today, but placed into context (the painting was finished in 1964, very soon after JFK was shot) it is understandable that the work would have caused a reaction in its viewers. I also like the almost arrogance seen in the faces of the subjects of Kennedy Motorcade. Kennedy exudes a pride which is even more striking when one imagines how the day depicted will end. |