High Museum Of Art Presents ‘The Obama Portraits’ Tour Featuring Portraits By Artists Kehinde Wiley And Amy Sherald

HIGH MUSEUM OF ART PRESENTS “THE OBAMA PORTRAITS” TOUR FEATURING PORTRAITS BY ARTISTS KEHINDE WILEY AND AMY SHERALD

ATLANTA, August 25, 2021 — The High Museum of Art presents the portraits of former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama by artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, respectively, as part of “The Obama Portraits Tour,” organized by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. The portraits will be on view Jan. 14 to March 20, 2022, in the High’s Stent Family Wing special exhibition galleries. 

“We are honored to present these portraits as the exclusive Southeastern venue for the tour and to afford our audiences an intimate experience with the works,” said Rand Suffolk, the High’s Nancy and Holcombe T. Green, Jr., director. “They demonstrate the incredible talents of Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley, two artists the Museum holds in high esteem, and serve as important records of a historic period in our nation’s history.” 

“We view the country as our community and believe in the power of portraiture to encourage both empathy and inspiration across audiences,” said Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery. “‘The Obama Portraits Tour’ is an opportunity to meet people where they are, in collaboration with our peer institutions, and offer audiences in different parts of the United States an opportunity to see these portraits firsthand.”   

In addition to the portraits, the exhibition will feature an approximately eight-minute video providing background on the commissioning of the portraits by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and putting them into the context of the national collection of presidential portraits. During the run of the exhibition, the High will present public programs including a conversation with the exhibition curators, host student field trips, and offer teachers professional development opportunities presented in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery. 

The Portrait Gallery holds the nation’s only complete collection of U.S. presidential portraits that is accessible to the public. It began commissioning presidential portraits in 1994 with George H.W. Bush and commissioned its first portrait of a First Lady in 2006 with Hillary Rodham Clinton. 

The paintings by Wiley and Sherald are the subject of a richly illustrated book, “The Obama Portraits” (2020), which delves into the making of these two artworks. Published by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in partnership with Princeton University Press, the book, along with merchandise inspired by the artworks, can be purchased at the High Museum Shop and online at museumshop.high.org. 

The tour commenced June 18, 2021, at the Art Institute of Chicago and continues through May 30, 2022. Additional tour locations include the Brooklyn Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.  

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery recognizes the lead donors to the Obama portraits: Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg; Judith Kern and Kent Whealy; Tommie L. Pegues and Donald A. Capoccia; Clarence, DeLoise and Brenda Gaines; The Stoneridge Fund of Amy and Marc Meadows; Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker; and Catherine and Michael Podell. “The Obama Portraits Tour” is organized by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. Support for the national tour has been generously provided by Bank of America. For more on the Portrait Gallery and the full tour schedule, visit npg.si.edu/obamaportraitstour

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