The White House Historical Association, a non-profit tasked with preserving the White House interior, has reacquired four historical sketches by heralded American painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell in a successful $5.8 million offer during an auction on Friday.
The four works of art date back to the 1940s, and are called “So You Want to See the President!” They were displayed in the West Wing for many years, but were removed in 2022 after a dispute over ownership of the artwork.
The sketches show a diverse array of people—journalists, military officers, and even a former Miss America Pageant alongside her publicist—sitting on luxurious red armchairs as they await a meeting with President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
They were put up for sale by a grandson of the White House official to whom they were gifted by Rockwell.
“I can’t tell you how personally thrilled I am that the White House Historical Association preserved this piece of White House history,” said Anita McBride, a member of the association’s board of directors.
While the association won the bid with a $5.8 million bid, it also paid a buyer’s premium to the auction house, Heritage Auctions, for a total of $7.25 million.
The association, which oversees many pieces aligned with its mandate to collect heirlooms that epitomize the American tradition and history, had never before spent so much money prior to acquiring the sketches in an acquisition.
Ahead of Friday’s purchase, the association’s largest acquisition was $1.5 million in 2007 for “The Builders,” an opus by African American artist Jacob Lawrence. That work is currently located in the White House Green Room.
The four interconnected Rockwell canvasses were created in 1943 and printed in the Saturday Evening Post. According to Dallas-based Heritage Auctions, they are Rockwell’s only related pieces designed to tell a story.
Matthew Costello, the association’s chief education officer, told the Associated Press over the telephone this week that officials had considered displaying the sketches at The People’s House: A White House Experience. The association opened the interactive White House education center in September 2024.
The association’s president, Stewart McLaurin, said it would share more “about the future of this significant and historic work” at a later date.
“We look forward to utilizing this acquisition to teach White House history for generations to come,” he said.
Founded in 1961 by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, the White House Historical Association’s mission is to preserve the interior of the White House, as well as educate the public.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
