William Kloss Lecture

William Kloss, independent art historian and author of Art in the White House, will introduce the President and Mrs. Coolidge through their official White House portraits: President Calvin Coolidge by Charles Sydney Hopkinson and Grace Goodhue Coolidge by Howard Chandler Christy. The president, famous for his taciturnity, his wife extroverted and as First Lady much admired by the public, have otherwise largely faded from our collective historical memory. But their moment on the American stage came during the shifting dynamics of the 1920s and that is the background to these portraits. The illustrated talk will offer a bite of biography, a swig of history, and a close look at two fascinating little-seen White House portraits.