Author Topic: Smithsonian to Unveil Portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama (Read 2091 times)

mountaineer · « **on:** February 12, 2018, 03:15:56 pm »

Smithsonian to Unveil Portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama
By Ted Johnson
Variety

Quote

WASHINGTON â€” Former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will make a rare public appearance in Washington on Monday at the unveiling of their portraits at the Smithsonianâ€™s National Portrait Gallery.

Dozens of friends and supporters, including former Attorney General Eric Holder and Senior Adviser David Axelrod, gathered in the atrium of the gallery for the ceremony. Also expected to attend were Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, and Gayle King.

Artist Kehinde Wiley, known for large, colorful portraits of African American subjects, painted the former presidentâ€™s portrait, which will be displayed in the museumâ€™s Americaâ€™s Presidents exhibition. The seven-foot portrait features a background of flowers, including chrysanthemums, the official flower of the Obamasâ€™ hometown of Chicago; jasmine, for Hawaii, where Obama spent his childhood; and African blue lilies to reference his late Kenyan father. ...

Not just an artist known for large, colorful portraits of African American subjects (apparently incapable of painting anyone else), but a celebrated hip hop portraitist!

This is what he did with Michael Jackson:

mountaineer · « **Reply #1 on:** February 12, 2018, 03:19:34 pm »

Several Obama-friendly news outlets had a live stream from the unveiling.

Mooch wore a garbage bag for the occasion.

WingNot · « **Reply #2 on:** February 12, 2018, 03:23:32 pm »

Royalty has it privileges. BTW is his highness still in hiding?

mountaineer · « **Reply #3 on:** February 12, 2018, 03:24:27 pm »

Who is that supposed to be?

Quote

Mark Knoller
â€Verified account @markknoller
8m8 minutes ago

"Wow Wow," says Mrs Obama of her portrait and years as First Lady. "What an incredible journey we are on in this country." She says we have "every reason to be hopeful and proud."

Isn't that a Snoop Dogg song, wow wow, bow bow, yippee-yay, or some such thing? Well, at least she's hopeful and proud of the current administration. What? That's not what she meant? ^-^

mountaineer · « **Reply #4 on:** February 12, 2018, 03:37:22 pm »

I kid you not.

mountaineer · « **Reply #5 on:** February 12, 2018, 03:38:41 pm »

mountaineer · « **Reply #6 on:** February 12, 2018, 03:55:31 pm »

Quote

Mark Knoller
â€Verified account @markknoller
10m10 minutes ago

Pres Obama compliments his artist, Kehinde Wiley, but acknowledges "sartorial differences" with the man in the black-and-white-stripe suit. Also says Wiley at disadvantage because his subject "not as fly" as Michelle Obama.

txradioguy · « **Reply #7 on:** February 12, 2018, 04:09:28 pm »

Wow what hideous paintings.

mountaineer · « **Reply #8 on:** February 12, 2018, 04:12:23 pm »

All that foliage surrounding Obammy should have been marijuana, not ivy, just for the sake of accuracy.

mystery-ak · « **Reply #9 on:** February 12, 2018, 04:12:47 pm »

Where are these going to hang?

Obama looks like he is sitting on a bush...and that doesn't even look like Michelle....

txradioguy · « **Reply #10 on:** February 12, 2018, 04:14:34 pm »

Quote from: mystery-ak on February 12, 2018, 04:12:47 pm

Where are these going to hang?

Obama looks like he is sitting on a bush...and that doesn't even look like Michelle....

IIRC they will be in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in D.C.

mystery-ak · « **Reply #11 on:** February 12, 2018, 04:18:19 pm »

excerpt:

Quote

The flowers seen in the background of the former president's portrait do have symbolic meanings. The chrysanthemums are the official flower of Chicago, where Obama began his political career. His childhood home of Hawaii is represented through jasmine, and African blue lilies serve as a nod to his late Kenyan-born father, Barack Obama Sr.

Obamas' portraits unveiled at Smithsonian
http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/373404-obamas-portraits-unveiled-at-smithsonian

Concerned · « **Reply #12 on:** February 12, 2018, 04:20:47 pm »

Looks like they decided not to go for a likeness of Michelle in any way. Odd choice.

mountaineer · « **Reply #13 on:** February 12, 2018, 04:26:28 pm »

Tweeters are loving it.

Harry Khachatrianâ€Verified account @Harry1T6
Iâ€™m just impressed Obama didnâ€™t get Bill Ayers to be in the portrait as himself â€” does that only work with books?

Oxford Andrew @AndrewIncognito
7m7 minutes ago
I know when I commission a portrait, the first thing I'll tell the artist is to make sure it doesn't look like me.

The Snarky Conservative @SnarkyRightMind
4m4 minutes ago
The actual name of the portrait: "IF OPRAH LOST SIXTY-FIVE POUNDS"

tatyana shnayder @tatyanashnayder
4s4 seconds ago
I thought something was off in the painting, it looks like what Michelle WOULD look like as a female.

Will â€ @1199Worf
4m4 minutes ago
Remember, it's ART. It's in the eye of the beholder, just like Obamacare and North Korea.

Culture & Anarchy @anarchy_culture
4m4 minutes ago
The look on Obamaâ€™s Face at the portrait unveiling is like: â€œAnd letâ€™s just throw this sheet back up there...â€

SkyKing · « **Reply #14 on:** February 12, 2018, 05:07:42 pm »

Quote from: mystery-ak on February 12, 2018, 04:12:47 pm

Where are these going to hang?

Obama looks like he is sitting on a bush...and that doesn't even look like Michelle....

In the Smithsonian Wing, of America haters.

Right_in_Virginia · « **Reply #15 on:** February 12, 2018, 05:10:35 pm »

Quote

In an imposingly scaled painting â€” just over seven feet tall â€” the artist presents Mr. Obama dressed in the regulation black suit and an open-necked white shirt, and seated on a vaguely thronelike chair not so different from the one seen in Stuartâ€™s Washington portrait. But art historical references stop there. So do tonal echoes of past portraits. Whereas Mr. Obamaâ€™s predecessors are, to the man, shown expressionless and composed, Mr. Obama sits tensely forward, frowning, elbows on his knees, arms crossed, as if listening hard. No smiles, no Mr. Nice Guy. Heâ€™s still troubleshooting, still in the game.

More: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/12/arts/design/obama-portrait.html

Right_in_Virginia · « **Reply #16 on:** February 12, 2018, 05:16:40 pm »

Quote

She shows Mrs. Obama sitting against a field of light blue, wearing a spreading gown. The dress design, by Michelle Smith, is eye-teasingly complicated: mostly white interrupted by black Op Art-ish blips and patches of striped color suggestive of African textiles. The shape of the dress, rising pyramidally upward, mountain-like, feels as if it were the real subject of the portrait. Mrs. Obamaâ€™s face forms the compositionâ€™s peak, but could be almost anyoneâ€™s face, like a modelâ€™s face in a fashion spread. To be honest, I was anticipating â€” hoping for â€” a bolder, more incisive image of the strong-voiced person I imagine this former first lady to be.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/12/arts/design/obama-portrait.html

"To be honest, I was anticipating â€” hoping for â€” a bolder, more incisive image ..."

Translation: I was anticipating an actual likeness of Michelle Obama.

Right_in_Virginia · « **Reply #17 on:** February 12, 2018, 05:18:03 pm »

The NYT has outdone itself.

Polly Ticks · « **Reply #18 on:** February 12, 2018, 05:28:46 pm »

Wow.

Well, I guess it could have been worse ...

dfwgator · « **Reply #19 on:** February 12, 2018, 05:34:42 pm »

Quote from: Polly Ticks on February 12, 2018, 05:28:46 pm

Wow.

Well, I guess it could have been worse ...

Snarknado · « **Reply #20 on:** February 12, 2018, 07:05:08 pm »

He's frowning because he can't find his golf ball in all that rough and had to let the next foursome play through. He should have taken a mulligan.

Or maybe he's in a treetop trying to figure out which direction leads back to reality?

mountaineer · « **Reply #21 on:** February 12, 2018, 07:07:05 pm »

Quote from: Snarknado on February 12, 2018, 07:05:08 pm

He's frowning because he can't find his golf ball in all that rough and had to let the next foursome play through. He should have taken a mulligan.

Or maybe he's in a treetop trying to figure out which direction leads back to reality?

Or maybe he texted Reggie an hour ago and still hasn't received a reply.

WingNot · « **Reply #22 on:** February 12, 2018, 07:07:37 pm »

The artist didn't really capture Obastards true essence.

Oceander · « **Reply #23 on:** February 12, 2018, 07:09:23 pm »

Lucas might sue for infringement on his copyrights to Chewbacca.

dfwgator · « **Reply #24 on:** February 12, 2018, 07:13:27 pm »

Prepare to be disgusted.....

Obama Portrait Artist Likes to Paint African-American Women Holding Heads of Decapitated White Women
https://truepundit.com/obama-portrait-artist-likes-paint-african-american-women-holding-heads-decapitated-white-women/

Author Topic: Smithsonian to Unveil Portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama (Read 2091 times)

Oceander