Norman Rockwell's Historic Sketches Return Home: $5.8M Auction Win for White House Historical Association
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In a major victory for the White House Historical Association, a series of four iconic Norman Rockwell sketches has been reclaimed for $5.8 million at auction. The series, titled 'So You Want to See the President!', was originally displayed in the White House West Wing in the 1940s but was removed in 2022 due to a family dispute over ownership. The sketches, created in 1943 and published in the Saturday Evening Post, show a diverse group of people waiting to meet President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The White House Historical Association, a nonprofit organization established by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961, has acquired the sketches to preserve a significant piece of American history and culture. The purchase price of $5.8 million is the association's largest ever, surpassing the $1.5 million paid for Jacob Lawrence's 'The Builders' in 2007. The sketches will be on display at The People's House: A White House Experience, an interactive education center opened by the association in September 2024. "We're thrilled to have preserved this piece of White House history," said Anita McBride, a member of the association's board of directors. "We look forward to sharing it with the public and teaching White House history for generations to come.
