Perhaps you need to like abstract expressionism, but this
new piece that I won at a recent auction of the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum
is quite special. Entitled “Missile,”
this artwork was made by Cape Cod artist Michael Magyar using material from John
and Jackie Kennedy’s Hyannis Port home.
The concrete, glass and steel window weights were discarded as the house
was recently renovated.
The catalog says of the unique work: “Seems like yesterday the artist thought
about the Cuba Missile Crisis and what is in the news today. How little it seems things have changed. And yet we can hope, as many people are
working for peace, tolerance and understanding—keeping the very values JFK
worked so hard to instill in his life alive today.”
This piece is meaningful to me for several reasons. First, I met and talked with Senator Kennedy
when I was a young boy. Second, the
Cuban Missile Crisis, occurring when I was twelve years old, was a notable
event in my childhood, and the memory of it is still strong in mind. Third, I later served as a working group
chair for the President’s Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba. And, finally, I just finished the manuscript
on the Nobel dinner that President and Mrs. Kennedy held in 1962 (“Dinner in
Camelot,” ForeEdge, April 2018). But I
also love the artwork!
I was fortunate to visit with the artist at his East
Sandwich, Massachusetts, studio. It was
especially enjoyable to learn how he came to create this piece. By the way, the piece is very heavy and is
seventeen inches high, six inches wide and fourteen inches long.
The auction, which included thirty-five diverse pieces,
raised funds for the museum, which is quite a gem.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.