The Obama Portraits - In-Person Lecture

The Obama Portraits of the former President, and former first lady, were commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery and revealed in a special unveiling ceremony on February 12, 2018. Artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald were the first Black American artists selected for the National Portrait Gallery’s official portraits of a President or First Lady.

The two ‘Obama Portraits’ just concluded a seven-city, sixteen-month tour in October, 2022 to record crowds, breaking daily attendance records in some of the country’s most prestigious art museums. The paintings have since returned to Washington DC’s National Portrait Gallery.

Professor Thomas Germano will analyze the two portraits in a visual art lecture, discuss the tradition of Presidential portraiture, and take an in-depth look at additional works by the two artists, Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald.