Official Barack Obama Kehinde Wiley National Gallery Print President Smithsonian

Description

Official Smithsonian Barack Obama Kehinde Wiley National Gallery Print President. 11x17. Shipped double tubed with USPS Priority Mail fully insured for value of sale.
Condition is like new (never opened, never removed from original tube).
official Smithsonian print featuring the image of the 44th President of the United States Barack Obama, painted by the artist Kehinde Wiley. This is an official replication of the exact image that hangs in the Presidential Portrait museum wing at the Smithsonian.
The print measures 11" x 17" and is a lithograph. Print comes with the COA attached to the tube. This is lithograph print.
Kehinde Wiley (born February 28, 1977)[1] is an American portrait painter based in New York City, who is known for his highly naturalistic paintings of African Americans, frequently referencing the work of Old Master paintings. He was commissioned in 2017 to paint a portrait of former President Barack Obama for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, which has portraits of all previous American presidents. The Columbus Museum of Art, which hosted an exhibition of his work in 2007, describes his work as follows: "Wiley has gained recent acclaim for his heroic portraits which address the image and status of young African-American men in contemporary culture."[2]
President Barack Obama is a 2018 portrait of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, by the artist Kehinde Wiley for the National Portrait Gallery.
In October 2017, it was announced that Wiley had been chosen by Barack Obama to paint an official portrait of the former president to appear in Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery "America's Presidents" exhibition.[1] The painting depicts Obama sitting in a chair seemingly floating among foliage.[2] The foliage is described by the author as "chrysanthemums (the official flower of Chicago), jasmine (symbolic of Hawaii where the president spent most of his childhood) and African blue lilies (alluding to the president's late Kenyan father)."[3] Reacting to the unveiling of his portrait Obama said: "How about that? That's pretty sharp".[4] The Washington Post described the painting as "not what you'd expect and that's why it's great".[2]
Together with Amy Sherald's portrait of Michelle Obama, the paintings were unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery on February 12, 2018.[5] Both portraits mark the first time two African-American artists were commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery.[6]