Portraits Of Obamas Going On 5-City US Tour, Including Texas Stop

CHICAGO (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — The official portraits of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama have been in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery since 2018, now the pieces are headed out on a five-city national tour that includes a stop in Texas.

The tour begins in the Obamas former home city of Chicago in June 2021, with the Art Institute of Chicago hosting the portraits.

After leaving Chicago, the portraits will travel to the Brooklyn Museum in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.

Kehinde Wiley did the portrait of Barack Obama and Amy Sherald did the portrait of Michelle Obama. Wiley and Sherald are the first African-American artists chosen to paint the gallery's official president and first lady portraits.

"Since the unveiling of these two portraits of the Obamas, the Portrait Gallery has experienced a record number of visitors, not only to view these works in person, but to be part of the communal experience of a particular moment in time," Kim Sajet, director of the Washington gallery, said in a statement. "This tour is an opportunity for audiences in different parts of the country to witness how portraiture can engage people in the beauty of dialogue and shared experience."

Barack Obama's portrait includes green vines and bright flowers surrounding the 44th president. Chrysanthemums, which are the official flower of Chicago, dot the painting. The background also includes jasmine from Hawaii, where Obama was born, and African blue lilies, which represent the birthplace of Obama's father: Kenya.