President Barack Obama (painting)

President Barack Obama
Portrait, Barack Obama
Artist Kehinde Wiley Edit this on Wikidata
Year 2018
Medium Oil paint, canvas
Subject Barack Obama Edit this on Wikidata
Dimensions 213.7 cm (84.1 in) × 147 cm (58 in) × 3.2 cm (1.3 in)
Location National Portrait Gallery
Accession No. PA/NPG.18-55 Edit this on Wikidata
Website npg.si.edu/object/npg_PA_NPG.18-55
External video
Obamas' Portrait Unveiling, National Portrait Gallery, February 12, 2018, C-SPAN

President Barack Obama is a 2018 portrait of Barack Obama by the artist Kehinde Wiley for the National Portrait Gallery.

Overview

In October 2017, it was announced that Wiley had been chosen by Barack Obama to paint an official portrait of the former president to appear in Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery "America's Presidents" exhibition.[1] The painting depicts Obama sitting in a chair seemingly floating among foliage.[2] The foliage is described by the author as "chrysanthemums (the official flower of Chicago), jasmine (symbolic of Hawaii where the president spent most of his childhood) and African blue lilies (alluding to the president's late Kenyan father)."[3] Reacting to the unveiling of his portrait Obama said: "How about that? That's pretty sharp",[4] The Washington Post described the painting as "not what you'd expect and that's why it's great".[2] The painting received mixed reactions on social media.[5]

Together with Amy Sherald's portrait of Michelle Obama, the paintings were first exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery on February 12, 2018. The unveiling led to thousands of visitors lined up at the entrance, along with a 311 percent increase in visitors compared with the prior President's Day Weekend.[6][7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Smith, Roberta. "Why the Obamas' Portrait Choices Matter". New York Times. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  2. 1 2 Philip Kennicott (February 12, 2018). "The Obamas' portraits are not what you'd expect and that's why they're great". The Washington Post.
  3. ↑ Forgione, Mary (13 February 2018). "Portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama make their debut in Washington, D.C. And they're not what you'd expect". LA Times. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  4. ↑ Bennett, Kate (12 February 2018). "Obamas' official portraits unveiled". CNN. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  5. ↑ Gutierrez, Lisa (12 February 2018). "Barack and Michelle Obama's new National Portrait Gallery paintings draw mixed reviews". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  6. ↑ Cascone, Sarah (February 20, 2018). "The Obama Portraits Have Boosted Attendance to the National Portrait Gallery by More Than 300 Percent". Artnet News. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  7. ↑ McGlone, Peggy (February 20, 2018). "Obama paintings bring huge crowds, excitement to National Portrait Gallery". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 10, 2018.


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