Portrait Gallery adds the Obamas — ears just as they are
The National Portrait Gallery has two additions to its collection of presidential portraits: Barack and Michelle Obama.
The portraits, unveiled Monday, are part of the only complete collection of portraits of presidents outside the White House. They are the first presidential portraits by black artists.
The portrait of Barack Obama, by artist Kehinde Wiley, features him sitting in a chair, arms folded, with a lush green background. The greenery was meant to represent his past.
Speaking a few feet away, Obama joked that he tried to negotiate less gray hair and smaller ears.
“I’ve never had a portrait done of myself,” Obama said after the unveil- ing. “The ‘ Hope’ poster done by Shep was cool, but I didn’t sit for it.” He referred to the image designed by artist Shepard Fairey for Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.
Obama said he saw similarities between himself and Wiley in that both were raised by American mothers and had absent African fathers.
“In some ways, our journeys involved searching for them and figuring out what that meant,” he said.
Michelle Obama’s portrait, by artist Amy Sherald, featured the former first lady seated, wearing a geometric-patterned dress, against a light blue background. She commended Sherald’s work. “Let’s just start by saying, ‘Wow,’ again,” she said after her portrait was unveiled.
Sherald called the opportunity a “defining milestone” in her life.