Hosted by fellow Democrat President Joe Biden more than five years after Obama left office, the Obamas were applauded by former staff members gathered in the East Room and praised the artists for capturing their images, which will hang in the White House for the next generations. Artist Robert McCurdy has placed Barack Obama, wearing a black suit and gray tie, at the center of his canvas in a photorealistic portrait against a white background. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up The former first lady is pictured in a blue dress in the Red Room of the White House, in a painting by Brooklyn artist Sharon Sprung. The event was a reunion for Obama administration officials and for Obama and Biden, who became close during the eight years that Biden served as Obama’s vice president. “There are few people I have met with more integrity, decency and moral courage than Barack Obama,” Biden said at the start of the ceremony. “Nothing could have prepared me better or more to be president of the United States than being at your side for eight years.” Large, formal portraits of US presidents and first ladies adorn walls, hallways and rooms throughout the White House. Typically, a former president returns for the unveiling during the term of his successor, but a ceremony for the Obamas has not been held during the administration of Republican President Donald Trump. Trump, before winning the 2016 election and succeeding Obama, pushed the “birther” movement which falsely suggested that Obama was not born in the United States. Obama, the first black US president, thanked Biden, his vice president from 2009 to 2017, for capitalizing on the work they did together. Former US President Barack Obama kisses former First Lady Michelle Obama during the unveiling of their official White House portraits, painted by Robert McCurdy and Sharon Sprung, respectively, in the East Room of the White House, in Washington, US, 7 September 2022 REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein read more “Thanks to your decency and your strength, perhaps most of all, your faith in our democracy and the American people, the country is better than when you took office, and we should all be deeply grateful for that,” Obama said. . He also thanked his former staff, many of whom now work in the White House with Biden, but joked that none had named a new child “Barack” or “Michelle.” McCurdy’s hyperrealistic painting of the former president is reminiscent of portraits he has done of author Toni Morrison and South African leader Nelson Mandela. The artist “rejected my request to shrink my ears,” Obama said with a laugh. “Also, he forbade me to wear a tan suit,” he added with a laugh, a reference to an unusual 2014 wardrobe choice that dominated the Washington news cycle for days. Michelle Obama said traditions like the portrait ceremony were important to people watching and participating in a democracy, and appeared to be referring to Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election, in which Trump was defeated by Biden. “You see the people, they make their voice heard with their vote. We are inaugurating to ensure a peaceful transition of power,” he said. “Once our time is up, we move on.” The first black first lady of the United States also reflected on her unlikely journey to the White House. “Because, as Barack said, if the two of us end up on the walls of the most famous address in the world … it’s so important for any young kid who doubts himself to believe that he can,” he said. he said. The Obamas did not mention Trump by name, and an Obama spokesman declined to comment at the time of the revelations. Obama hosted former Republican President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, for their portrait unveiling in 2012. “It’s really up to the current president in the White House and the former president depicted in the portrait to determine the right time, but there is no set timeline,” said Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association. , non-profit organization that commissions the official portraits of the president and first lady. Previous portraits of the Obamas unveiled in 2018 and placed in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington have become a major tourist attraction. Obama has returned to the White House once since leaving office, joining Biden in April for an event to promote his signature health care law, known as Obamacare. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Report by Jeff Mason. additional reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Heather Timmons, Alistair Bell and Leslie Adler; Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
