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Cultural Diplomacy
Celebrating French Culture
The Kennedys made a State Visit to France in 1961 where they were welcomed by cultural minister André Malraux and celebrated in the French media. On May 11, 1962, the Kennedys held a dinner for Malraux with a guest list of American playwrights, novelists, dancers, Broadway stars, and painters.
After touring the National Gallery of Art with Mrs. Kennedy, Malraux told the press he thought France would lend its most prized painting, Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, to the United States. The painting arrived the following January where it became the first blockbuster exhibition at the National Gallery of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, seen by a million and a half visitors. |