Sweep Stakes

Among the thousands of pieces on display at the Grand Palais as part of the 1961 Salon des Indépendants hung an oil painting by Madeleine Luka. In Les KK, an expressive Nikita Khrushchev sits in an inviting chair, sporting a green army shirt but no shoes (presumably because he had forgotten to put them back on at the United Nations the year before). Wearing a blue suit, a brown tie, and a pair of oxfords, a jovial John F. Kennedy sits across from the Soviet premier. The two world leaders are playing a game of chess and having a good time at it; the American president looks as if he’s about to give his opponent a thumbs-up. A perplexed cherub watches from above. “The over-all effect of the work on viewers was more of general amusement than of partisanship or offense,” the New York Times reported from Paris. “Most comments centered on the fact that in view of the Cuban situation, the artist had struck even a more timely note than she...