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Obamas' Art Collection: Modern, Aggressive

White House borrows 47 works of art from Washington museums

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 7, 2009 8:52 AM CDT

(Newser) – Barack and Michelle Obama, working with curators at the White House and DC museums, have borrowed 47 artworks for their walls, and their selections are far more modern and discerning than their predecessors', writes Blake Gopnik. The Washington Post critic is impressed by the "surprisingly sober, even dour" choices they made, including works by Jasper Johns, Ed Ruscha, and Mark Rothko. One Hirshhorn curator said they shot down several "conservative" choices she offered—the first couple wanted ambitious, aggressive works.

Even when the Obamas included a popular artist like Winslow Homer, they passed over his cheerier Americana for "a dark and gorgeous little image" of a man struggling to haul a boat. They also picked seven works by African-American artists, from a faux-naif family scene to a conceptual work by Glenn Ligon. That painting features one phrase from Black Like Me, repeated over and over and dissolving into a mess of black pigment. Gopnik's impressed but wonders how it will play: "Has Obama the art lover trumped Obama the skilled politician?"

Ed Ruscha's 1983 oil on canvas painting, I' think I'll... is on loan from the Smithsonian to the White House.
Ed Ruscha's 1983 oil on canvas painting, "I' think I'll..." is on loan from the Smithsonian to the White House.   (AP Photo/National Gallery of Art, Courtesy of Ed Ruscha)
American artist George Catlin's painting, Catlin and Indian Attacking Buffalo, 1861/1869, oil on card mounted on paperboard. The work is on loan from the gallery to the White House.
American artist George Catlin's painting, Catlin and Indian Attacking Buffalo, 1861/1869, oil on card mounted on paperboard. The work is on loan from the gallery to the White House.   (AP Photo/Smithsonian Institution, National Gallery of Art)
Berkeley No. 52, a 1955 work by Richard Diebenkorn, is on loan to the White House.
"Berkeley No. 52," a 1955 work by Richard Diebenkorn, is on loan to the White House.   (AP Photo/NGA, Courtesy of the Estate of Richard Diebenkorn)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 4 comments
thejoint00
Oct 7, 2009 5:40 AM CDT
BHO does have a very nice art collection
Fiskebolle
Oct 7, 2009 3:24 AM CDT
Oh my God/Obama what a horrible person this Glenn Beck truly is. He might conceivably do that you say!? Let's discuss this hypothetical some more so everyone can be made sure we're properly indoctrinated.
Michael_CT
Oct 7, 2009 2:47 AM CDT
what a great perk being the president!

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