Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Art Barack Obama's Art Collection
Posted by Corinna Kirsch on Tue, Aug 28, 2012 at 10:13 AM
- Photo by Richard Frasier
- President Barack Obama presents artist Frank Stella with a 2009 National Medal of Arts award.
As we parade into election season, any second spent thinking about anything other than politics seems downright un-American. Keeping that in mind, don’t be surprised if our listicles over the next few months have a surprisingly political bent. Don’t you want to know Mitt Romney’s favorite artworks? Well, you’ll find that out next week. This week, we take a snapshot look at the White House’s art collection. When Barack Obama first took office, there was a flurry of excitement surrounding which artworks he would add to the White House. What do these works tell us about Barack—and Michelle? Well, it’s hard to tell, so we paired each painting with a quotation by one of the Obamas. Read through this slide show and you’ll almost certainly learn something about the presidential couple you didn’t already know.
1. Ed Ruscha, I Think I’ll …,1983
President Obama wasn’t always politically-minded. As an undergraduate at Occidental College, he wrote for a student literary journal. From that flash-in-a-pan moment, here is a little-known poem, entitled “Pop”:
Sitting in his seat, a seat broad and broken
In, sprinkled with ashes,
Pop switches channels, takes another
Shot of Seagrams, neat, and asks,
What to do with me, a green young man
Who fails to consider the
Flim and flam of the world, since
Things have been easy for me.
2. Laura and George W. Bush portraits
Every president and first lady gets one; it’s just a perk that comes with the position. These portraits by John Howard Sanden were installed in May 2012. At the unveiling ceremony, President Obama gave an appreciative speech about the Bushes:
Finally, on a personal note, Michelle and I are grateful to the entire Bush family for their guidance and their example during our own transition. George, I will always remember the gathering you hosted for all the living former Presidents before I took office, your kind words of encouragement. Plus, you also left me a really good TV sports package. I use it.
Image source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America
3. Richard Diebenkorn, Berekeley, No. 52, 1955
The majority of works to come into the White House since Obama took office have been abstract. Abstraction is a type of level playing field, where the arts “speak to our common condition.” That phrase comes from remarks he made during a speech given at the 2012 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal ceremony. President Obama said:
Equal to the impact you have on each of us every day as individuals is the impact you have on us as a society. And we are told we're divided as a people, and then suddenly the arts have this power to bring us together and speak to our common condition.
4. George Catlin, Buffalo Chase
This painting is amazing: there’s so much movement in the animals’ manes, wispy grass, and rolling clouds. Also, it’s just goofy: look at those big, ol’ cartoony eyes in the hunter’s steed and the buffalo in pursuit.
You know who else has a cheery sense of humor? Barack Obama. From his memoir The Audacity of Hope:
If I’d been born to a tribe of hunters, this talent of mine would be pretty worthless. I can’t run very fast. I’m not particularly strong. I’d probably end up as some wild animal’s dinner.
Keep ‘em coming, Prez.
5. Alma Thomas, Sky Light, 1973
Michelle Obama, who sits on the advisory board for the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, chose two pieces by Alma Thomas to be included in the White House collection. So, what does the First Lady think about art? It’s well-known that the first-couple went to the Art Institute of Chicago on their first date, but other than that it’s hard to tell. Since becoming First Lady, she has remarked:
The arts are not just a nice thing to have or to do if there is free time or if one can afford it. Rather, paintings and poetry, music and fashion, design and dialogue, they all define who we are as a people and provide an account of our history for the next generation.
6. Glenn Ligon, Black Like Me, No. 2, 1992
Ligon repeats the phrase “All traces of the griffin had been wiped from existence” over and over again until it disappears into a blotted mess. It’s one of the least cheery paintings included in this selection, and with that sentiment, let’s not pretend Obama has made the arts his number one priority. During his presidency, NEA funding has continued to plummet. Unlike presidential hopeful Mitt Romney who wants to wipe the NEA from existence, we hope for better things from Obama who at the very least believes in keeping a steadfast course. From his inaugural address:
With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter.
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