Barack and Michelle Obama's return to the White House was a chance to commemorate the historic presidency they’d ushered in. It also served as a stark reminder of the differences with the current era.
When Barack and Michelle Obama returned to the White House on Wednesday to unveil their official portraits, it was a chance to commemorate the historic presidency they’d ushered in.The event, held in the East Room, had all the feelings of a family reunion. Former Obama aides mingled with colleagues who now staff the current president. Former members of the cabinet exchanged knowing glances, handshakes and hugs. Obama himself seemed giddy by the scene in front of him.
Beyond that, however, was a more serious undercurrent to Wednesday’s affair. The weighty issues that the Obamas confronted have been exacerbated and overtaken by even weightier matters, as the former first lady herself alluded to. There is, as those involved in the process note, something solemn about the unveiling of the presidential portrait. It is a celebration of a former White House occupant. But the work belongs to a building, not a person — a testament to the notion that the presidency is about an office, not an individual.
But she also spoke of the surrealness, even after more than a decade in the public eye, of seeing herself speaking at the White House, of finding her likeness adorning the walls alongside the white women whose portraits hang there now. She talked about her biography and how it could inspire others who never would have previously imagined the possibility of the path she took.
In the room, she felt like the blunt truth teller — a reprisal of the role she played during the 2016 election by honing in on campaign themes that her husband and the Bidens touched on. While the crowd seemed to see Barack Obama as the swaggy cousin, she was the cousin that sets you straight. At one point, someone in the crowd yelled out, “We love you Michelle!”
Michelle Obama’s portrait was something else entirely. Painted by Sharon Sprung, it featured the former first lady seated on a sofa in the Red Room of the White House, wearing a formal blue dress. Whereas her husband’s portrait was a contrast of blacks and whites and grays, hers offered a bounty of colors — another subtle nod to how different she was from her predecessors. The choice of Sprung was historic in its own right: she’s the first woman artist to do an official portrait in decades.
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