Jean Kennedy Smith

Jean Kennedy Smith is a recurring but briefly observed presence in Andy Warhol’s diary, appearing in ordinary city encounters as well as gatherings around artists and public life. Across the entries, her attention to Jamie Wyeth and her candid interventions in conversation give these passing appearances their shape.

A Brief Presence in the Diary

The diary records Jean Kennedy Smith at three points between December 1976 and February 1977. She appears first while shopping in Bloomingdale’s, then at a lunch with Jamie Wyeth and Lincoln Kirstein, and later on a flight to Denver with her son. Rather than offer a continuous biography, these snapshots show her moving among the social and artistic circles Warhol encountered.

The Bloomingdale’s Encounter

On December 1, 1976, Warhol ran into Jean Kennedy Smith in Bloomingdale’s men’s shirt department. They had the same salesgirl. When they met again at lunch later that month, Warhol reminded her of the encounter; she explained that the shirts she had been buying were Christmas presents for her family. The detail makes the first meeting more than a chance sighting: an ordinary shopping errand resurfaced as a point of recognition in a later social gathering.

Lunch with Jamie Wyeth

On December 20, Jean Kennedy Smith joined Jamie Wyeth and Lincoln Kirstein for lunch. At the table, they asked Warhol to turn off his tape recorder. Wyeth had recently spent a week in Plains, and Warhol noted that he was now the Carter court painter. Jean Kennedy Smith’s interest in him came through in a small, private gesture: she asked Warhol to accompany her to the coatroom, took out an American quilt, and asked whether it was genuine. After Warhol confirmed that it was, she gave it to Wyeth. Warhol read her attention as a possible crush, an impression prompted by her interest and the personal gift rather than by any declaration from her.

After lunch, the group went to Kirstein’s house on East 19th Street to look at his art. When Kirstein called John Kennedy corrupt during a political conversation, Jean Kennedy Smith answered that he was not. She was the first to leave. The exchange shows her speaking plainly in a gathering otherwise recorded through art, gifts, and social observation.

A Later Encounter in Denver

On February 3, 1977, Warhol encountered Jean Kennedy Smith at the airport; she was traveling on the same flight to Denver with her son. She asked about Jamie Wyeth, extending the interest she had shown at the December lunch. In the diary, the question links the two meetings: even in a brief airport encounter, Wyeth remained a subject she returned to.