Norman Rockwell’s rarely seen sketches depicting life in the White House West Wing during the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration will be publicly displayed through June 2027, following their recent acquisition by the White House Historical Association.
The collection of vibrant sketches offers an intimate glimpse into the daily interactions of military personnel, White House staff, members of Congress, journalists, and visitors as they awaited entrance to the Oval Office during the early 1940s. Rockwell, renowned for his depictions of American life on the Saturday Evening Post covers, created these scenes during two visits to the West Wing. After a fire destroyed much of his Vermont studio and original works, the artist returned to capture additional material, blending memories from both trips into the sketches now on view.
The first of Rockwell’s drawings illustrates the White House entrance with photographers positioned along West Executive Avenue and Stephen Early, Roosevelt’s press secretary and former journalist, engaged with reporters. Another scene features Rosemary LaPlanche, Miss America 1941, seated alongside her publicity manager, while a nearby kilt-wearing Scottish officer and a Secret Service agent observe the room. Other notable figures portrayed include Senators Tom Connally and Warren Austin in conversation, a Navy WAVES officer, and Generals Joseph Stilwell and Edwin Watson, as well as Roosevelt’s dog Fala chasing an aide pushing the president’s lunch cart.
The sketches had originally been gifted by Rockwell to Early after their publication in the Saturday Evening Post in November 1943. Early displayed them for years in his West Wing office before they were turned over to the White House in 1978, where they remained on display for over four decades. A family ownership dispute emerged in 2017 when Early’s grandson identified the sketches on a White House wall during a televised event. In 2022, the White House returned the drawings to the family following an agreement dating to their 1978 transfer. A federal appeals court upheld the family’s ownership in 2025, clearing the way for the sketches’ sale.
The White House Historical Association purchased the collection for $7.25 million, its highest expenditure on artwork to date, to prevent the sketches from disappearing into private hands. The association, a privately funded organization established by Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961, does not use taxpayer funds and aims to preserve artifacts connected to the history and culture of the presidency.
Stewart McLaurin, the association’s president, emphasized the cultural value of the drawings, describing them as “priceless works” that serve as a unique historical record. The exhibit at the association’s “The People’s House” education center near the White House will include a digital component designed to animate the figures and provide historical context. Plans for the sketches after the exhibit concludes in mid-2027 remain undecided, with the possibility of additional public showings or a future return to the White House.