The Auction of the Estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
1996
The auction fever of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis estate sale ended with frenzied Camelot souvenir hunters ringing up $34,457,470 during four days on Sotheby’s cash registers, over seven times the original estimate of $4.6 million. “The success of this auction does not belong to Sotheby’s,” said Diana D. Brooks, the president of the auction house, who spoke with tears in her eyes. “It belongs to Mrs. Onassis. It is her grace and style, her dignity, her courage that are behind the results this past week.” “People have bid and bought at this auction because she and President Kennedy touched our lives in a profound way,” Brooks said. Sotheby’s savvy marketing, which tapped into a rich vein of nostalgia, yielded big profits for John F. Kennedy Jr. and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg. The sale of 105,000 copies of the auction catalog alone--in $90 hardcover and $45 softcover editions — brought $2.5 million in profits, which were donated to a charity by John Jr. and Caroline.
Sandra hired two photographers to capture the behind-the-scenes moments as the sale catalog and exhibition were being developed. The result was a photographic chronicle hour by hour, day by day description of the Sotheby's Auction of the Estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, with dozens of black and white photographs of the items at auction, the auctioneers, staff setting up the exhibition, and the crowds and news teams lining up on the sidewalk for previews. The softbound book was printed and presented as a gift to all successful buyers and underbidders.
Client: Sotheby’s CEO, Diana D. Brooks; Creative Direction: Sandra Burch, Harold Burch; Designer: Harold Burch; Sandra Burch; Photography: Sasha Gusov; Phillip Perkis; The Library of Congress; Marketing Director: Tova Nedagard; Printer: Toppan, Andre Theoret
