Pieta JFK Assassination, History Painting, Mark Balma Jackie Kennedy holding President Kennedy, last moments Start Price USD 750,000.00 Current Price USD 750,000.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Tuesday, December 02, 2008 End Time Friday, December 12, 2008 Location Wayzata, MN See more about 'Pieta JFK Assassination, History Painting, Mark Balma' Description  PIETA’Pieta' captures a moment at Parkland Hospital witnessed by few and never photographed. In creating this Historical Painting, the artist sharers his interpretation and feelings about this moment.The Final Moments: The untimely assassination of John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) the 35th President of the United States is cited by many news agencies and scholars as one of the major events of the 20th century. Photographs taken by eyewitness bystanders and professional photo- journalists offer a wide-angled panorama of that fateful morning in Dallas.But we can only imagine through a haze of time and memory those anguished final moments shared between President and his wife, Mrs. Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy(1929-1994)“Held in Her Lap”: “For a moment, Mrs. Kennedy refused to release the President, whom she held in her lap, but then Kellerman, Greer and Lawson (secret service agents) lifted the President onto a stretcher and pushed it into trauma room 1”. This chillingly objective text is from The Warren Commission report (page 53). This private moment on the world’s public stage becomes the focus of the painting.Artistic invention has always been the means by which we are enabled to rethink and revive the memory of humanity’s most glorifying and shameful deeds. “Pieta” is Mark Balma’s impressively scaled (6’ height x 5’ width) depiction of a haunting moment that very few people witnessed.Philipp Eliasoph, PH.D. Professor of art history, Fairfield University, Connecticut.Tempera Grassa on canvasThe Artist:Mark Balma began art training at Atelier Lack in Minneapolis at the age fifteen. He has maintained studios and held exhibitions in Florence, Milan , London and The United States. He received instruction from Maestro Pietro Annigoni, renowned portrait painter of Florence, Italy.Balma works in a variety of mediums including fresco, oil, oil tempera, watercolor, and etching. He is known for his large-scale traditional fresco technique. Balma’s fresco work includes “The Seven Virtues” at the University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis, MN, two frescoes at The Cathedral of St. Paul,St. Paul, MN, and three murals, “The Mediatrix” in the Performing Arts Building at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, A triptych of St. Clare in the Museum of Sacred Art , Assisi, Italy, and a fresco for the 11th century church, San Giovanni, Assisi, Italy.Balma has perfected his art of portraiture, revealing the complexity and soul of each of his subjects. Portrait commissions include single, family, groupings, and officials of state. His many portrait commissions include Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister James Calahan, President Giscard d’Estaing(France) Chancellor Helmut Schmidt (Germany)President George H.W. Bush, President Ronald Reagan, President Gerald Ford and Secretary of States James Baker and Colin Powell and others.“Pieta” was shown at the Cathedral of St. Paul, thousands attended the week long exhibition and symposium.For more information please contact  442032870191 (London, UK)For additional information and to order prints of the painting please visit www.markbalma.com (Pieta') www.markbalma.com You Tube Video Pieta DocumentaryYou Tube Video Pieta Images and Music "When power leads men towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses. For art establishes the basic human truth which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment. The artist, however faithful to his personal vision of reality, becomes the last champion of the individual mind and sensibility against an intrusive society and an officious state. The great artist is thus a solitary figure. He has, as Frost said, 'a lover's quarrel with the world.' In pursuing his perceptions of reality, he must often sail against the currents of his time. This is not a popular role. If Robert Frost was much honored in his lifetime, it was because a good many preferred to ignore his darker truths." John F. Kennedy Place a Bid!