Politicos and would-be statesmen have the opportunity to bid for ‘Air Force One’, ‘The Oval Office’ and a John F. Kennedy Lincoln limousine, the most recognized symbols of the American Presidency, when they are offered in Bonhams American Presidential Experience Auction in New York on Wednesday October 14.
The American Presidential Experience Collection, comprising seventy-six lots of artefacts, both original and reproductions, represents one man’s lifelong exploration of the institution of the American presidency.
Entrepreneur Jim Warlick turned a childhood hobby of collecting political memorabilia–including a bronze bust of John F Kennedy–into a business, and then an unrivaled museum exhibition of Presidential memorabilia.
Among the headline offerings are; a life size replica of the Oval Office; the Lincoln limousine which carried President John F. Kennedy to Fort Worth airport before his flight to Dallas for his fateful visit on November 22,1963; and a full-scale fuselage recreation of the Kennedy era ‘Air Force One’.
The collection has been sourced from Jim Warlick’s non-partisan travelling educational exhibition, ‘American Presidential Experience’, which has toured the USA for more than twenty years, including visits to Rockefeller Center for the 2004 election when it was renamed Democracy Plaza, Barack Obama’s historic 2009 inauguration, and numerous National conventions, both Republican and Democrat. Jim’s moving museum was an incredible resource and introduction for thousands of children and adults alike.
Warlick’s collection will be complemented by other fascinating artefacts in the Bonhams auction, including a limited edition 1992 Roy Lichtenstein screen print ‘The Oval Office’ and an original 1864 Lincoln-Johnson portrait campaign flag.
Proceeds of the sale of the American Presidential Experience will go towards funding Jim Warlick’s latest personal venture: The Worker’s Legacy Project in Burke County, North Carolina, which will honour the millworkers of the Appalachian mountains, specifically his mother who worked in a hosiery mill for over thirty years.
