Skip to main content
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MA
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MA
Gerard Richardson
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MA
John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, Boston, MA holds the copyright to this image Copyright and other proprietary rights in material on this site may be held by individuals or entities other than or in addition to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. The John F. Kennedy Library does not warrant that the use of materials displayed on this site will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to these works. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying,transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum respects the intellectual property rights of others. The John F. Kennedy Library may, in appropriate circumstances and at its discretion, remove, disable and/or terminate access to any material on or linked to or from this site that it suspects to be infringing upon a third party's intellectual property rights or other rights.

Gerard Richardson

American painter, 1910 - 1971
Born in New York, NY, (1910-1971) American artist, Gerard Richardson, has been generally recognized by art critics as one of the most important naval artists of the twentieth century

His famous painting "Heavenly Mist," which was a rendering of the sinking by a Japanese destroyer named The Morning Mist of the PT Boat 109 which bore President Kennedy during World War II, was a favorite of the President and remained in the White House until the assassination of President Kennedy.


Richardson did many of the colorful covers for "The Motor Boating Magazine," a Hearst publication. The original paintings hang in the Hearst World Headquarters in New York . Many of Richardson's work were commissioned by Yacht Clubs and several are owned by individual sportsmen. His paintings also hang in the Sam Rayburn Congressional Building in Washington DC and in the Lyndon Johnson Presidential Ranch and hang in many private collections.His work has been exhibited in many places in Europe, in New York City and at the Truxtan-Decatur Naval Museum, the Navy Department and the Pentagon, in Washington D.C. It has been marketed by the Knoedler and the Norton Galleries on 57th Street in New York and at the Venables Gallery on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D. C.

Gerard Richardson was born in New York City in 1910 of a long line of U.S. born citizens, but was educated in Europe. He studied art at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and while traveling in France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and England.

Richardson was a Captain, later Commander in the Navy during World War II. Many of his paintings of famous ships and naval battles reside in the U. S. Naval Museum