On November 22nd, 55 years ago, John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, and an extraordinary life came to an end. JFK, John F. Kennedy, the 35 President of the United States of America, was already an icon during his lifetime, but his assassination in Dallas turned him into a myth. Countless rumors and fables surround his life and his death to this day.
The exhibition, commemorating President John F. Kennedy’s life and work, brings together images from various sources. The exhibition is one of the most exhaustively researched collections of Kennedy photos ever assembled.
John F. Kennedy’s presidency marked a pivotal period in American history. Kennedy rose to political prominence following World War II as Americans were enjoying the first fruits of a consumer culture. Manufacturing muscle, fueled by the war, was turned to making cars and appliances, while battle-weary correspondents and photographers offered their talents to Madison Avenue and mass media publishing empires. Magazines brimming with glossy photographs flew off of newsstands, while television beamed news and images directly into American homes.
Before television became the dominant medium, photojournalism set the gold standard around the world, and the vibrant and compelling period of the early 1960s produced some of the finest and most vivid documentary photography of the era. No single politician was photographed more than JFK – from his first congressional bid as a decorated war hero in 1948, to his fairytale marriage to Jacqueline Bouvier in 1953, his run for the White House, his role as Commander-in-Chief, his commitment to the arts, his travels around the world, and the final tragedy in Dallas.
The most exhaustively researched group of Kennedy photos ever assembled, the exhibition celebrates the life, political career, and extraordinary vision of one of the country’s most admired and most charismatic presidents.
Original photographs from the Kennedy family archives and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library capture the unforgettable and dramatic scope of Kennedy’s life and times, as well as his enduring impact. Some of these images from his early life, career in politics, and role as President, are classics; others have never been published before.
These photographs were originally shown in the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC, in May 2017 and in the New York Historical Society in New York opening in late June 2017. The photos were then acquired by the US Embassy in Berlin, and, organised by the German-American Institute Saarland, travelled through Germany.
Through the kind assistance of Monsieur François Carbon, Chargé de Mission Culture at the University of Luxembourg, who also implemented the connection to the US Embassy Luxembourg, the exhibition can now be shown at the University of Luxembourg through November.
For any information, please contact espace.cultures@uni.lu