Vasari Art Codex

trending_up market schedule Nov 18, 2025 visibility 3 link 6 artists, 2 galleries

norman rockwell president white house paintings auction 2 2704973

A four-panel suite of Norman Rockwell paintings, *So You Want to See The President!* (1943), sold for $7.2 million at Heritage Auctions on November 14, following a bitter ownership dispute. The White House Historical Association revealed itself as the buyer, marking the most expensive acquisition in the Association's history. The work, commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's press secretary Stephen T. Early, had hung in the White House for decades before being removed in 2022 amid legal battles over ownership. A federal judge ruled in favor of William Elam, the grandson of Early's daughter, in 2023, clearing the way for the sale.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

norman rockwell president white house paintings auction 2 2704973

A four-panel suite of paintings by Norman Rockwell, titled *So You Want to See The President!* (1943), sold for $7.2 million at Heritage Auctions on November 14. The work, which hung in the White House for decades, was bought by the White House Historical Association, marking its most expensive acquisition to date. The sale followed a bitter ownership dispute among descendants of the original commissioner, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's press secretary Stephen T. Early, with a federal judge ruling in favor of the current owner, William Elam, in 2023.