The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has announced that two black artists will be painting the official portraits of former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.
The couple apparently hand-picked Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald to do the paintings, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Both artists have exhibited widely, but this presidential assignment amounts to a coup as they follow in the footsteps of artists like Gilbert Stuart, whose portraits of George Washington are considered masterpieces,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
This makes Wiley and Sherald the first-ever black artists to be hired to paint portraits of a President and First Lady by the Smithsonian. They will be paid for their commissioned paintings through private donations.
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SOURCE: Paula Rogo
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