Obamas to return to White House for unveiling of official portraits
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michele Obama will return to the White House on Wednesday, for the unveiling of their official portraits.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will host the ceremony Wednesday afternoon in the East Room of the White House.
The ceremony will also mark Michelle Obama's first visit to the White House since Obama's presidency ended in January 2017, and only the second visit for Barack Obama. He was at the White House in April to mark the 12th anniversary of the health care law he signed in 2010.
The White House portraits are one of two sets of portraits of presidents and first ladies. The National Portrait Gallery, a Smithsonian museum, maintains its own collection and those portraits are unveiled before the White House pair. The Obamas unveiled their museum portraits in February 2018.
Those portraits of the Obamas — done by Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley — were unveiled at Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Both portraits received an unprecedented public response, the museum said back in 2020, when it announced they would be going on a nationwide tour.
It is not yet known which artist or artists did the Obamas' White House portraits. It's tradition that the artist is not disclosed until the unveiling ceremony.
Since the museum portraits were unveiled in 2018, they have toured across the country, starting in Chicago last year.