{"id":1485,"date":"2018-02-12T18:03:35","date_gmt":"2018-02-12T23:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/?p=1485"},"modified":"2018-06-20T12:23:15","modified_gmt":"2018-06-20T12:23:15","slug":"history-made-smithsonians-national-portrait-gallery-unveils-obamas-official-portraits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/history-made-smithsonians-national-portrait-gallery-unveils-obamas-official-portraits\/","title":{"rendered":"History Is Made As The Smithsonian\u2019s National Portrait Gallery Unveils The Obamas\u2019 Official Portraits"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The work of Kehinde Wiley (Left); Amy Sherald (Right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As the highly anticipated portraits of former president Obama and first lady Michelle are unveiled at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Portrait Gallery on Monday morning, history is made. Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley, personally selected by the Obamas, are the first African-Americans commissioned to paint official presidential portraits.<\/p>\n

The artists of choice are stirring conversations nationwide, as the Obamas did not take the traditional route when it came to their official portraits. Yet, in their own strikingly unique way, Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald have managed to blend traditional elements with a contemporary style, which is quite refreshing, to say the least.<\/p>\n

Renowned painter Kehinde Wiley, famous for his vivid and royal depictions of African-Americans, was Obama\u2019s first choice for his official presidential portrait, out of dozens of candidates. “What I was always struck by when I saw his portraits was the degree to which they challenged our ideas of power and privilege,” Obama said during the unveiling on Monday, explaining his choice of Wiley. The life-sized oil painting shows Obama sitting on a wooden armchair, with his demeanor indicating the cool, calm, and collected nature that so often defined the 44th<\/sup> president. Yet, there is sternness here, too\u2013perhaps to suggest complexity and the multifaceted nature of human beings. Surrounding Obama is an intricate background of green foliage and specific flowers, each symbolizing his roots: jasmine signifies Hawaii, his birthplace, the African blue lilies represent Kenya, his father\u2019s birthplace, and the chrysanthemums are the official flower of Chicago, his adopted home.<\/p>\n

In contrast to Wiley\u2019s established fame, the unveiling of Amy Sherald\u2019s Michelle Obama\u2019s portrait is the Baltimore-based artist\u2019s first time in the national spotlight. But make no mistake\u2013Sherald is rapidly rising as an artist, and was recently awarded the High Museum of Art\u2019s David Driskell Prize<\/a>. The 44-year-old paints her African-American subjects with ambiguous gray skin, while vibrantly detailing all other qualities within the painting, such as the background and clothing. Sherald has explained<\/a> that the use of gray is \u201cA way for me to subversively comment about race without feeling as though I\u2019m excluding the viewer.\u201d Staying true to her trademark style for former first lady Michelle\u2019s official portrait has both confused and sparked a buzzing curiosity among those unfamiliar with Sherald\u2019s body of work.<\/p>\n

In the portrait, Michelle wears a floor-length gown, mostly white, with muted patches of striped colors that compliment well with the light blue backdrop. Michelle is illustrated with grace and elegance, surely, but what\u2019s lacking here is the fierce, bold nature of our former first lady. In comparison to Sherald\u2019s other works, which are generally more daring and vibrant in nature, Michelle appears to be a bit muted in both color and emotion. To depict such a dynamic and powerful woman as \u201cmuted,\u201d this may be seen as problematic to some. To others, it\u2019s a matter of personal taste, and doesn\u2019t in any way discredit Sherald as a phenomenal artist that is absolutely deserving of this high honor.<\/p>\n

Michelle\u2019s choice of a rising artist speaks volumes about her character, and celebrates black artists from all walks of life. During the unveiling, the former first lady discussed the impact that Sherald\u2019s portrait will have on young 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.<\/p>\n

Both portraits will be on display at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Portrait Gallery, open for public viewing beginning Tuesday. Obama’s portrait will permanently reside in the hall of presidents, and Michelle\u2019s will temporarily live in a separate gallery, available for viewing until November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  As the highly anticipated portraits of former president Obama and first lady Michelle are unveiled at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Portrait Gallery on Monday morning, history is made. Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley, personally selected by the Obamas, are the first African-Americans commissioned to paint official presidential portraits. The artists of choice are stirring conversations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175],"tags":[52,53,31,54,55,56,51],"class_list":["post-1485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","tag-amy-sherald","tag-art","tag-featured","tag-kehinde-wiley","tag-obama","tag-review","tag-trending"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}