{"id":58677,"date":"2018-02-13T04:36:47","date_gmt":"2018-02-13T04:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=58677"},"modified":"2018-02-13T04:36:47","modified_gmt":"2018-02-13T04:36:47","slug":"obama-unveils-official-portraits-jokes-about-wifes-hotness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/obama-unveils-official-portraits-jokes-about-wifes-hotness.html","title":{"rendered":"Obama unveils official portraits, jokes about wife’s ‘hotness’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Obama unveils official portraits, jokes about wife’s ‘hotness’<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Former U.S. President Barack Obama joked about his ears and gray hair and praised his wife Michelle Obama\u2019s \u201chotness\u201d at the unveiling of the couple\u2019s official portraits at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Portrait Gallery on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Obamas selected artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald for the paintings, which take their place in the National Portrait Gallery\u2019s collection of presidential portraits.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wiley and Sherald were the first black artists ever commissioned to paint a president or first lady for the Smithsonian.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Obama\u2019s portrait by Wiley, the former president is depicted sitting in a brown chair with a backdrop of bright green leaves and colorful flowers. Sherald\u2019s painting of Michelle Obama shows her sitting with one hand under her chin and the other draped across her lap, while wearing a long flowing dress decorated with geometric shapes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Obama, the first African-American U.S. president, complimented Sherald for her portrait of Michelle.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want to thank you for so spectacularly capturing the grace and beauty and intelligence and charm and hotness of the woman that I love,\u201d Obama said.<\/span><\/p>\n

He quipped that Wiley, who painted his portrait, was at a disadvantage because his subject was \u201cless becoming.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to negotiate less gray hair and Kehinde\u2019s artistic integrity would not allow him to do what I asked,\u201d Obama said in tongue-in-cheek fashion. \u201cI tried to negotiate smaller ears – struck out on that as well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

New York Times art critic Holland Cotter said while he was impressed by Barack Obama\u2019s unusual depiction, he was disappointed that the focus of Michelle Obama\u2019s portrait appeared to be her dress.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was anticipating \u2014 hoping for \u2014 a bolder, more incisive image of the strong-voiced person I imagine this former first lady to be,\u201d Cotter said in his review.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most Twitter posts described the portraits as stunning, although a few criticized them as poorly executed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBehold the beauty of Barack and Michelle Obama\u2019s official portrait,\u201d tweeted @newyorknewart.<\/span><\/p>\n

Michelle Obama said she hoped the portrait would have an impact on young girls of color in the years ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey will look up and they will see an image of someone who looks like them, hanging on the wall of this great American institution,\u201d she said. \u201cI know the kind of impact that will have on their lives, because I was one of those girls.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Portrait Gallery\u2019s tradition of commissioning presidential portraits began with President George H.W. Bush. Other portraits were acquired as gifts, bought at auctions or through other means.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-usa-obama-portrait\/obama-unveils-official-portraits-jokes-about-wifes-hotness-idUSKBN1FW250<\/span><\/p>\n

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