DIFFERENT ‘STROKES’ FOR THE OBAMAS
Couple’s official portraits a breed ap‘art’
Former President Barack Obama went gaga over the painting of Michelle Obama at the unveiling of the couple’s official portraits on Monday — thanking the artist for capturing the ex-first lady’s “hotness.”
“Amy, I want to thank you for so spectacularly capturing the grace and beauty and the intelligence and charm and hotness of the woman that I love,” the per- manently smitten Obama said.
The 44th president lavished praise on Baltimore-based artist Amy Sherald at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.
The ex-commander-in-chief ’s portrait was painted by New York City-based Kehinde Wiley, the first African-American artist to execute an official presidential portrait for the gallery.
“How about that? That’s pretty sharp,” Obama said as he took the podium and checked out his own portrait, which depicts him against a backdrop of green foliage.
“I tried to negotiate less gray hair, and Kehinde’s artistic integrity would not allow him to do what I asked,” Obama joked. “I tried to negotiate smaller ears. Struck out on that as well.”
In Obama’s portrait, he is seated amid chrysanthemums, the official flower of his hometown, Chicago; jasmine, evoking his native Hawaii; and African blue lilies, in tribute to his late father’s Kenyan heritage.
Michelle Obama was painted in a long, flowing, sleeveless dress, adorned with geometric shapes, by designer Michelle Smith’s label, Milly.
The former first lady said she “was a little overwhelmed, to say the least,” after her portrait was unveiled — saying that she was thinking about the impact Sherald’s work will have on “girls and girls of color.”
“They will see an image of someone who looks like them hanging on the walls of this great American institution . . . And I know the kind of impact that will have on their lives because I was one of those girls,” she said.
The paintings will join the “America’s Presidents” exhibition at the gallery as part of its permanent installation, which will be on view for the public beginning Tuesday.