![]() The artist has built a career for herself creating oil paintings, primarily emotional portraits of women juxtaposed against brightly colored backgrounds. Sharon Sprung, a 69-year-old artist who resides in New York, says in the podcast interview that she was “joyous” to hear that she was one of the artists being considered to paint Michelle Obama. White House Historical Association Sharon Sprung The official White House portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama, painted by artist Sharon Sprung ![]() The subjects of his paintings are not the people in them, he tells the podcast, but rather “the thing that happens in between the sitter and the viewer.” Though he says he is honored to have been selected to paint Obama’s portrait, the artist avoids being pinned down as a portraitist. “When this project came up,” says McCurdy, “it was just perfect because it saved us the trouble of having to ask him.” The former president was already on the list of people McCurdy wanted to paint, the artist tells Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association, on the White House 1600 Sessions podcast. Barack Obama’s portrait, done in his signature style, is McCurdy’s latest addition to his collection. Previously, McCurdy has captured influential people such as Toni Morrison, Nelson Mandela, Jane Goodall and the Dalai Lama, and his work is frequently on display at the National Portrait Gallery. In the end, his subjects jump out against a stark, white background, painted in as much detail as you can glean in a photograph. Then he selects a photograph and renders it life-size onto a canvas. He begins by photographing his subjects, sometimes taking over 100 snapshots to capture them as he wants: standing neutrally, gazing at the viewer through the camera. Over the years, McCurdy has developed a distinct artistic process and style for his portraits. The 70-year-old artist, originally from Pennsylvania, is a master of photorealism-meaning that he tries to replicate a photograph as closely as possible. When you see a Robert McCurdy portrait for the first time, you may not realize it’s a painting at first glance. White House Historical Association Robert McCurdy The official White House portrait of former President Barack Obama, painted by Robert McCurdy Their selections for the White House portraits are no less groundbreaking: Barack Obama commissioned Robert McCurdy, and Michelle Obama commissioned Sharon Sprung. Those sensational works are currently touring museums across the country. The Obamas caused a stir in 2018 with the news that, for their first round of portraits, they opted for artists who intentionally break from traditional portraiture conventions. On Wednesday, the tradition returned in a ceremony held by President Joe Biden. In a deviation from custom, former President Donald Trump held no such ceremony for the Obamas. ![]() Traditionally, presidents’ White House portraits are introduced in a ceremony held by their successors: Before this week, the last White House portrait ceremony that took place was in 2012, when then-President Obama unveiled the portraits of George W. But former presidents and their spouses typically commission two portraits each: One is added to the gallery’s collection, and the other is kept in the White House. In 2018, two portraits-Barack Obama’s by Kehinde Wiley and Michelle Obama’s by Amy Sherald- joined the National Portrait Gallery’s collection. You may be asking yourself: Didn’t we already see the Obama portraits? Well, yes. Two artworks are officially joining the White House’s collection of presidential portraits: the long-awaited paintings of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.
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