Mother and Child.

DORR, Nell. [Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis].

$3,800.00

Item Number: 139615

New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1954.

First edition of Nell Dorr’s personal and moving photobook. Octavo, original half cloth over pictorial boards, pictorial endpapers, illustrated. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the dedication page, “To Jacqueline Kennedy who speaks to the world in the common language of Mother and child. Mine is just one of the grateful hearts. Nell Dorr. March second 1961.” When John F. Kennedy was sworn in as president on January 20, 1961, 31-year-old Jacqueline Kennedy became the third youngest First Lady in American history. As a presidential couple, the Kennedys differed from the Eisenhowers by their relative youth and their relationship with the media. Historian Gil Troy has noted that in particular, they “emphasized vague appearances rather than specific accomplishments or passionate commitments” and therefore fit in well in the early 1960s’ “cool, TV-oriented culture”. The discussion on Kennedy’s fashion choices continued during her years in the White House, and she became a trendsetter, hiring American designer Oleg Cassini to design her wardrobe. She was the first First Lady to hire a press secretary, Pamela Turnure, and carefully managed her contact with the media, usually shying away from making public statements, and strictly controlling the extent to which her children were photographed. Portrayed by the media as the ideal woman, academic Maurine Beasley has stated that Kennedy “created an unrealistic media expectation for first ladies that would challenge her successors.” Nevertheless, by attracting worldwide positive public attention, the First Lady gained allies for the White House and international support for the Kennedy administration and its Cold War policies. Although Kennedy stated that her priority as a First Lady was to take care of the President and their children, she also dedicated her time to the promotion of American arts and preservation of its history. Her main contribution was the restoration of the White House, but she also furthered the cause by hosting social events that brought together elite figures from politics and the arts. One of her unrealized goals was to found a Department of the Arts, but she did contribute to the establishment of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment of the Humanities, established during Johnson’s tenure. With Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ Aptil 1996 Sotheby’s Estate bookplate. Near fine in a very good dust jacket.

American photographer Nell Dorr experimented with a range of photographic techniques including the photogram, macrophotography, negative retouching, and alternative printing processes. During the Second World War, Dorr took up residence in New Hampshire with her daughters and grandchildren whom she photographed extensively. The resultant images were complied in Mother and Child, the exhibition and publication of which was prompted by her grief over the death of her daughter, Elizabeth. The work was featured in MoMA's 1955 world-touring exhibition The Family of Man, for which four of her images were selected by Edward Steichen.