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.
Thomass 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 ...
It takes a special kind of hideous to make the marvelous wooden doors and furniture look out of place, but she’s managed to pull it off.
Well, we know who her new decorator is now.................
I thought that art like that belongs on a refrigerator tacked on with a magnet.
” 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.”
The chosen artwork for this room is in complete opposition to the traditional furnishings and decor, intentionally making it the focal point of the room. IMO the artwork brought into this room creates chaos and defiance. The circle of angry colors, makes me think the center circle is a trapped inner rage.
I see that Gronk the Shag Rug Tranny finally stopped wearing the carpet and left it on the floor.
Better if she had thrown it out though.
This is hardly a surprise. Albers was a leading member of the Bauhaus movement in art which looked down on the decorative arts as bourgeois. They sought to do away with tradition, and even beauty, entirely. That’s a pretty typical attitude of the self-described revolutionary, which clearly the Obama’s believe themselves to be.
And if you don’t like it, consider this quote from Josef Albers: “If you don’t do it my way, I suggest you commit suicide.”
All the elegance of a freshman dorm room.
“Bathsalt smoking decorator chic”
we know the genre but would get banned for raceism if mentioned
PS. It’s not Wookie
Is there some reason that picture on the right contains images of portions of a Nazi guard hut?
Mooch has a little itch problem.
Hahaha!
Heidi Cruz: “Tell me they archived the stuff they had before she got to this room. I don’t think the taxpayers should pay for dealing with this, but either we go back to the old stuff, or we just make the room bare and seal it off.
The Wookie strikes again. Nothing like a pig with public money. At least all can finally see that the White House residents have no taste.
I trust the White House staff is preparing suitable long term storage for this junk.
Anyone have the “before” picture of that room?
Ech. Looks like Moochie stretched some of her old shower curtain dresses over a picture frame. Is it any wonder she threw out the white house florist.
Sorry, you're wrong. That's not a flag of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian flag is blue and yellow which represents a blue sky and yellow wheat fields.
In that painting the yellow is on top and blue on the bottom.
It is obvious the artist has just mastered painting between the lines with primary colors.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.