Posted on 10/07/2009 4:50:30 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Michelle Obama oversaw the transformation to the White House décor
Barack Obama's pledge to usher in a new era at the White House has borne fruit in the décor, now heaving with abstract art after a drastic makeover.
Not since the exterior had to be painted white after the British reputedly set it ablaze during the 1812 War, have the walls of the US presidential residence undergone such a startling transformation.
The landscapes, still life and portraits of the past have been ousted by bold colours, irregular shapes and squiggly lines.
Abstract works by modern art icons such as Jasper Johns and Mark Rothko, as well as sculptures by Degas, are sharing hanging space with contemporary African-American and Native-American pictures by relatively obscure artists.
The influx does not just extend to paintings – patent models for a gear cutter and a steamboat paddlewheel now sit in the Oval Office.
Michelle Obama oversaw the transformation, borrowing some 45 works from local museums to decorate both their private living quarters and the public spaces of the East and West Wings.
Other recent first families hung a few modern pieces in their living quarters – Jacqueline Kennedy liked Cezanne, Hillary Clinton put up some Kandinsky and de Kooning – but none approached the scope of the Obamas, said William Allman, the White House curator.
For their living quarters, the couple chose Glenn Ligon's Black Like Me No. 2, a 1992 "text painting" that reproduces some of the contents of Black Like Me, a 1961 book by a white man who travelled the American South disguised as a black man.
Michael Smith, the Obamas' decorator visited Harry Cooper, curator of modern and contemporary art at the National Gallery in Washington, shortly before Mr Obama's inauguration to see what could be borrowed
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
A patent model of a steamboat paddlewheel now sits in the Oval Office
That;s IT?????? THere s such great art to pick from and they choose this crap??
She’s got some issues.
The vast majority working in the White House have issues....
you just don't have the eye of a true arteest! /sarc>
Perhaps some “Dogs Playing Poker” pieces in Barry’s mancave.
Sooooo ture... I am just a peasant living in Chicago.
Seeing how she dresses, this is no surprise....
Except in Barry’s version Federal agents split up the chips equally among the dogs as well as a few cats who aren’t even playing in the game.
LOL!
I have mixed feelings. First, if it is in the private residence, that’s fine. There is a tradition, however, of historical art in the public spaces. On the other hand, if these are representative of various artists of the US, great. I think having important patents on display is interesting. If it is just modern art for art sake, not considering the history or origin, that is just wrong.
I like that...divide the chips! LOL
The WaPo or somebody yesterday had a small pic gallery. If it’s black art, good news, you’re in! Nothing racist about that.
/s
Jackie-Cezanne: I’m on board!
I know some people like this stuff. I am an artist and I hate it. It is as ugly as the clothes MO wears.
This is art? Or is it the 0bama Doctrine?
That “text painting” should say...
ALL TRACES OF MY PRIOR LIFE HAD BEEN WIPED FROM EXISTENCE.
hey! look! i'm a textual arteest too!
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