OBAMAS’ UNCONVENTIONAL PORTRAITS BUCK THE TREND
FORMER US first couple Barack and Michelle Obama unveiled their portraits at Washington’s National Gallery, two contrasting works by African-American artists that shocked and delighted.
The paintings by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, commissioned by the gallery, were revealed at a star-studded event that is a rite of passage for most former American presidents.
The museum holds portraits of all American ex-commanders in chief, but these latest additions stand in stark contrast to the more buttoneddown approach of traditional presidential portraiture.
Both show their subjects – America’s first black presidential couple – looking cool and confident, a stark contrast to the bubbling swamp of anger and braggadocio that is political Washington today.
Wiley painted the ex-president against a signature lush botanical backdrop, while Baltimore-based Sherald rendered Michelle Obama in her trademark greyscale. with only a few splashes of colour.