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Amy Carter, the daughter of former president Jimmy Carter, selected paintings and memorabilia for two Christie’s sales. The prices might surprise you.
Jan. 13, 2026, 4:50 p.m. ET
While most presidents seek to frame history, President Jimmy Carter was, at times, also seeking to frame his world on canvas. He was a hobbyist who painted throughout his lifetime — depicting natural landscapes and church steeples found throughout his home state of Georgia, as well as the occasional portrait of his wife, Rosalynn Carter.
Four of nearly 100 of his paintings are included in Christie’s auctions this month, including one opening online Tuesday. They are being offered alongside memorabilia, correspondences that include a love letter to his wife, and furniture that the former president handcrafted. A portion of the auction proceeds will benefit the Carter Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization serving causes in Sumter County, Ga., where the president, from Plains, spent most of his life.
But the lowest estimate for one of the paintings is $2,000, and the highest estimate of a painting is $12,000.
“Priced to sell” is the shorthand used inside Christie’s, and there is some strategy behind those numbers, said Julia Jones, the specialist who helped organize the auctions. “We are hoping they will establish the market for Jimmy Carter’s paintings,” she said.
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For Carter’s family, the paintings were an essential part of his life, even if the public rarely caught glimpses of his art.
