Figure 2 - JFK.
Image two the JFK portrait was done by Andy Warhol, he portrayed many celebrities in this way which also included Jackie Kennedy JFK's wife and Marylyn Monroe the worlds most famous actress, who JFK was said to have had an affair with. Andy Warhol's painting, like Rauschenberg's shows Kennedy as a iconic figure, this could be due to the appropriation, the fact that Kennedy's image was used so much, in magazines photo journalism etc made his image inhuman, a representation of the Kennedy legend, an object of the American peoples gaze.
"It's not just Kennedy himself it's what people see in him. It's the glowing picture we keep getting. He actually glows in most of his photograph's we are supposed to believe he's the hero of the age" .
It is possible that Warhol chose to appropriate the Kennedy image because it had been used so much. Warhol rendered JFK a cultural icon, who's image was familiar to the entire nation.
Warhol uses red, which has connotations of Blood and murder it could also be a suggestion, that Kennedy had a darker side than his common public persona, the blue used in the image contrasts with the red to make the picture, hard to focus on, although the Kennedy smile is there, its hard to find it appealing, the picture could almost be seen as ugly Coplans suggests that.
"Although stars such as Marylyn Monroe, and JFK are made to look ugly, and distasteful in Warhol's presentation, there is beauty in the work that has nothing to do with the physical attributes of the originals but with the human decisions made by Warhol" .
Figure Three John and Jackie.
The juxtaposition, that Kennedy is seen in an unappealing light is effective in giving the image a kind of shock value, which makes it memorable.
This image of the Kennedy's is a typical one from the Kennedy presidency, it shows them as a happy couple, smiling and enjoying time together. In this photograph Jackie looks beautiful and elegant, and John looks Handsome, Loyal and in love.
