Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle might not be known as artists but the power couple has already been immortalized in the art world as iconic paintings. Their official portraits became such a hit with the museum-going public that they will go on a one-year tour across the country starting 2021, according to an announcement by Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.
Despite being out of the White House for three years now, Barack and Michelle Obama remain as popular as ever as even their official portraits drew in large numbers of visitors. “Since the unveiling of these two portraits of the Obamas, the Portrait Gallery has experienced a record number of visitors, not only to view these works in person but to be part of the communal experience of a particular moment in time,” National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet said, Express reported.
The portraits’ tour will give people, who can’t otherwise visit the National Portrait Gallery to view them, the chance to personally witness the art. “This tour is an opportunity for audiences in different parts of the country to witness how portraiture can engage people in the beauty of dialogue and shared experience,” Sajet explained.
The former POTUS portrait, appropriately named “Barack Obama,” is oil on canvas painting by artist Kehinde Wiley, which was completed in 2018. The former FLOTUS’ portrait, named “Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama,” is oil on linen painting by artist Amy Sherald, which was also completed in 2018.
With their work, Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley also earned the distinction of being the first African-American artists to paint official portraits of a president and a first lady.
Kehinde Wiley revealed that Barack Obama wanted his portrait to reflect his true personality. “I think what we have to keep in mind is that Barack Obama is incredibly sensitive to representation, and to art history,” the artist explained to New Yorker. “And so he wanted to make sure that this image communicated who he is in the world.”
Thus, the official portrait conveys a president that has a very relaxed vibe. “He, from the very beginning, wanted to have a very relaxed, man-of-the-people representation,” Wiley added.
This was made possible by being mindful of the littlest of things that went into the painting. “Even the smallest details, things such as the open collar, the absence of the tie, the sense that his body is actually moving toward you, physically, in space, as opposed to feeling aloof,” the artists said.
The portraits will go on a one-year tour starting June 18, 2021. They will be displayed in five museums located in five different cities.
June 18, 2021, to August 15, 2021 – Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
August 27, 2021, to October 24, 2021 – Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York
November 5, 2021, to January 2, 2022 – Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles
January 14, 2022, to March 13, 2022 – High Museum of Art, Atlanta
March 25, 2022, to May 30, 2022 – The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston