Posted on 03/25/2015 11:13:45 AM PDT by drewh
Visitors to the White House on Tuesday saw a side of the mansion that had previously been hidden from public view. The Old Family Dining Room, once a private space for first family meals, has been refurbished by Michelle Obama in her first major attempt to leave her mark on the interior of the historic house.
The dining room, used in recent decades as a staging area for State Dining Room events, has been thoroughly modernized. The works added to the room are bold, including a custom-made rug based on a 1950 weaving by Anni Albers. Most of the artists featured in the room lived in the last century, including Alma Thomas, a force in the Washington Color School and the first African-American woman to be included in the White House permanent collection.
Thomas’s piece, “Resurrection,” is reflective of her expressionist style, evoking a burst of color. The White House Historical Association acquired it at auction last year for $290,000. The association, founded Jacqueline Kennedy, also paid for the repainting of the walls, which are now a cool gray — a major shift from the golden yellow that Kennedy selected.
The room is reflective of the Obamas’ tastes, which favor abstract artists. Two paintings by the 20th century modernist Josef Albers — husband of Anni, whose work inspired the rug — are featured across from a large mirror acquired during a 1902 restoration of the White House by the Roosevelt administration.
Obama unveiled the new room Tuesday by surprising visitors on public tours of the White House and encouraging them to look in on the refurbished space.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Heidi Cruz has her work cut out for her, doesn’t she?
No taste.
Who got the Sharpie after the rug?
The drapes are nice.
The paintings and the rug, however, are totally out-of-place and inappropriate in that setting.
Not to mention they are butt-ugly.
HIDEOUS!!!! REALLY PAST HIDEOUS!!! They are going to have to fumigate...
No wonder the florist was fired. She must have had good taste.
First, that picture on the left wall has got to go...zero class or style to it.
Second, the carpet is some weird design, and it has to go.
Third and final....these chairs look like they’d fall apart if Chris Christie showed up to eat supper. I’d get rid of the chairs ASAP.
poor Jackie Kennedy must be doing rotations in her grave knowing that her foundation got shanghied to be behind this travesty
Looks like a bad joke!
$290,000 for that?
Geezzz.......
Yard sale chic.
Looks like the hood.
Needs some more yellows and blues.
Snark of the day!
The decor is not right with the setting.....this is an historical home, not a modern one. While MO is busy trying to change the White House, Obama is doing the same with the country. It will be easier to fix the decor than the country once they are gone.
Well, at least she had the decency to put up a dartboard.
She’s consistent. Her taste in interior design echoes her taste in clothes.
Someone need to watch a little less Empire and watch a little mo HGTV. Yo
well isn’t that all warm and cozy
kinda like the Captains Lounge at an officer’s club
Same tacky furniture
Is that a target at the end of the room?
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