Smithsonian to feature Kennedy photograhs

    May 29 marks the 100th anniversary of Kennedy’s birth, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will mark the occasion with nine photographs of the 35th president and his family within the museum’s “The American Presidency” exhibition.
    The photographs were taken a few weeks before the presidential inauguration in 1961 by Richard Avedon (1923-2004). Kennedy (1917-1963), then president-elect, his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, and their children, Caroline and John, were photographed against a white backdrop. Six of the photographs taken by Avedon appeared in his column, “Observations,” in Harper’s Bazaar, a Smithsonian news release recounts.
    In 1966, Avedon donated 217 black-and-white photos and their negatives to the museum’s photographic history collection, according to the Smithsonian. The Kennedy images were included.
    The display -- JFK Centennial Celebration -- will be on view May 25 through Aug. 27. The museum is at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

CATS AS ART: Here’s a heads-up for cat lovers: The Archives of American Art is featuring an online exhibition on how cats are depicted in art.
    The exhibition focuses on “the myriad ways in which cats are represented in rare documents like sketches and drawings, letters, and photographs from the nineteenth century through early 2000s,” the website says.
    The display features the work of photographers and artists. It can be seen on the Archives of American Art website through October 29.

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    Smithsonian plans Marlene Dietrich exhibition

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