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Known for his commissioned paintings of ‘The Obama’s’ is headed on a 5-city tour with a kickoff at the Art Institute of Chicago in June 2021.
Unveiled in 2018 at the end of Obama’s presidency the artist Kehinde Wiley was commissioned to create the official portraits of the President and the First Lady. The images have become a destination for visitors to the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington. The portraits along with the celebrated artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald is scheduled to go on the road.
According to the NYT the five-city tour till kick off in 2021 at the Art Institute of Chicago and end in 2022. The event is also scheduled to make stops at the Brooklyn Museum; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the High Museum of Art in Atlanta; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
“Since the unveiling of these two portraits of the Obamas, the Portrait Gallery has experienced a record number of visitors, not only to view these works in person but to be part of the communal experience of a particular moment in time,” Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery, said in a statement. “This tour is an opportunity for audiences in different parts of the country to witness how portraiture can engage people in the beauty of dialogue and shared experience.”
Mr. Wiley and Ms. Sherald were the first African-American artists to have been selected for the National Portrait Gallery’s official portraits of a president or first lady.
