I was pleased to read that former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were invited back to the White House by President Joe Biden for the official unveiling of their formal White House portraits. However, I was very surprised to see that these portraits were not the two portraits that went on a year long, nationwide tour in 2021-2022, including a rather lengthy showing at the Art Institute of Chicago.
I traveled into Chicago with a friend from the western suburbs to view that exhibit in the spring of 2021. We attended because we thought that we were looking at the official portraits of president and Mrs. Obama that would be hung in the White House at a later date. These portraits were very different from a typical presidential portrait. The portrait by artist Kehinde Wiley showed Barack Obama sitting with his arms crossed over his knees in front of an ivy-covered wall with flowers interspersed reflecting his heritage from Africa, Hawaii and Chicago.
