The then-first lady, who painted as a hobby, created the 6½-inch by 8-inch artwork in 1963 as a gift for her brother- in law, Stanislaw Radziwill, Christie's said today. Radziwill gave her the watch.
The JFK speech manuscript is one of several Kennedy- related items, including Jacqueline Kennedy's maternity dress, up for auction starting today and ending May 18 by Boston- based RR Auction in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the former president's birth.
The painting depicts Radziwill walking with a Kennedy family friend.
The items are being offered as a single lot at a June 21 sale in New York. The presale estimate is USD 60,000 to USD 120,000. The seller is anonymous. Part of the proceeds will benefit the National Endowment for the Arts.
The typed JFK manuscript is a page from a 1955 speech the then-US Senator from Massachusetts gave at the Sigma Delta Chi Journalism Fraternity at the University Club in Boston in October 1955. Kennedy underlined several phrases in pencil and made a few deletions.