Obama's Presidential Portrait Was Just Unveiled And People Already Have Memes
By Mustafa GatollariUpdated Nov. 18 2019, 2:24 p.m. ET
A longstanding presidential tradition is the official presidential portrait.
To be the artist chosen to paint the commander in chief is a huge honor. In this day and age, almost anyone can snap a photo of someone (although let's be real, great photographers can make you look really good) but to be painted, because it takes so much time and effort, is a big deal.
Plus, there's the added touch of being painted in a way that the individual artist sees or wants to see you. That subjectivity, along with particular artistic choices, yields completely different visions from different artists.
Barack Obama selected Kehinde Wiley, a professional painter from Yale, who's known to paint African American figures against colorful backdrops. Obama unveiled the portrait at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.
Former President Barack Obama’s official portrait was just unveiled at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, a rite of passage for most former presidents, all of whom have their portraits hanging in the museum https://t.co/1w4arKRmcb pic.twitter.com/SSns8bFb95
— CNN (@CNN) February 12, 2018Here's our 44th President, in all his foliage backdrop glory.
However people noticed something about Obama's official portrait: it bore a striking resemblance to a popular Simpsons meme, of Homer walking backwards into bushes.
sorry pic.twitter.com/ApQYOf5XF7
— Shoshana Weissmann, Sloth Committee Chair (@senatorshoshana) February 12, 2018It gave his haters perfect meme material.
My take on the Obamas official portrait.
I call it "My Fading Legacy" #ObamaPortraits #obamaportrait#Obama pic.twitter.com/t3aSgxqsB4
— Veterans4🐸 AKA Crumbcollector (@DeplorableJWS) February 12, 2018Barack Obama's portrait was a #Homer! #Doh pic.twitter.com/gsILK3BbQD
— E Deploribus Unum (@IJihadEnough) February 12, 2018The memes went kind of off the rails.
Obama's new portrait is stunning pic.twitter.com/vSeOh5Egcd
— Smosh (@smosh) February 12, 2018Easter egg: Sean Spicer hiding in Obama’s portrait’s bushes pic.twitter.com/lZ4ynY75Qn
— ElElegante101 (@skolanach) February 12, 2018Some people noticed stunning similarities to other popular works of art.
Is anyone else getting a Beyoncé vibe off Obama’s portrait? pic.twitter.com/FkcNVIVtte
— Surlymom (@Surly_Mom) February 12, 2018While others were surprised Obama's portrait was set in Wrigley field.
Obama's portrait is especially weird because as a purported White Sox fan, it's unclear how he ended up in the Wrigley ivy. pic.twitter.com/ScEMvYHKSg
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) February 12, 2018Barack wasn't the only Obama with a commissioned portrait.
Former First Lady, Michelle, selected Baltimore artist Amy Sherald to paint her likeness, which was unveiled as well.
Michelle Obama's official portrait unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery. (via ABC) pic.twitter.com/m9rPMgCsdn
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 12, 2018Barack gushed about how wonderful he thought the piece turned out.
Barack Obama praises Michelle Obama's portrait artist "for so spectacularly capturing the grace and beauty and intelligence and charm and hotness of the woman I love." https://t.co/31IsuBQpNp pic.twitter.com/7tkznasSaA
— ABC News (@ABC) February 12, 2018But the internet wasn't so enamored with the piece.
It's not that @BarackObama's portrait is bad, it's that there's no depth, that he's floating in a wall of leaves. @MichelleObama's portrait is bad. Like, paint by numbers bad. pic.twitter.com/qBCusNhx0B
— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) February 12, 2018While others felt bad for even commenting on the quality of the painting.
Remember: Making fun of Michelle Obama’s ugly portrait is racist. Everything is racist. You racist.
— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) February 12, 2018Lots of people were saying that Michelle's painting looks nothing like her.
Michelle Obama's portrait was unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery...
Aaaaand it looks nothing like her. pic.twitter.com/EQitllF47w
I don’t think Michelle Obama’s official portrait actually looks like her
— Sam Stein (@samstein) February 12, 2018Others defended Michelle's portrait, saying it's in line with Sherald's other work.
Amy Sherald’s incredible portrait of @MichelleObama. Sherald uses greyscale to paint skin tone in order to take away “color,” so her subjects can be seen for their personality and presence. pic.twitter.com/mLiLZSlNEU
— Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) February 12, 2018People snarking on the Michelle Obama portrait should really take 2 minutes to see it in the context of Amy Sherald's other portraits. pic.twitter.com/CbDYTFey4V
— Schooley (@Rschooley) February 12, 2018But it hasn't stopped people from roasting it nonetheless.
LOVE the new portrait of Michelle Obama pic.twitter.com/c4OXHhFOw6
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) February 12, 2018Things the Michelle Obama portrait looks like:
An 8th grade art project
Things it does not look like:
Michelle Obama pic.twitter.com/kbgTsIdPxi
Me trying not to criticize the Michelle Obama portrait pic.twitter.com/raqh0okSEb
— bolu babalola (@BeeBabs) February 12, 2018Just a question.... does this artist also do sculptures? If so, did she also do the 1st statue of Lucille Ball... b/c it looks nothing like her also... just like this portrait looks nothing like Michelle Obama! pic.twitter.com/VsDCciAd7j
— 💫𝓐𝓶𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓜𝓪𝓶𝓪 (@1AmericanMama) February 12, 2018People can roast the pictures all they want, but I can't. I mean there's no way I could do any better. Besides, my favorite kind of artwork is anything with '80s geometric designs and palm trees, so I can't really judge.
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