The official portraits of former US president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle have been revealed and they are magnificent.
A far, far cry from the dusty portraits of the white men who have come before, the Obama paintings are colourful and filled with flair.
The former president joked about his ears and grey hair and praised Michelle’s “hotness” during the unveiling at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery today.
Watch the unveiling of the portraits in the video below.
The Obamas tapped artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald for the paintings, which will be added to the National Portrait Gallery’s collection of presidential portraits.
For his portrait by Wiley, Obama is depicted sitting in a brown chair with a backdrop of bright green leaves and colourful flowers. Michelle’s painting shows her sitting with one hand under her chin and the other draped across her lap, while wearing a long flowing dress decorated with geometric shapes.
"I want to thank you for so spectacularly capturing the grace and beauty and intelligence and charm and hotness of the woman that I love," Obama said at the event on Monday.
He quipped that Wiley, who painted his portrait, was at a disadvantage because his subject was "less becoming".
"I tried to negotiate less grey hair and Kehinde's artistic integrity would not allow him to do what I asked," Obama said. "I tried to negotiate smaller ears - struck out on that as well."
The Obamas both expressed awe at their portraits, noting that they were the first people in their families to ever sit for an official painting.
Michelle Obama said she hoped the portrait would have an impact on young girls of colour in the years ahead.
"They will look up and they will see an image of someone who looks like them, hanging on the wall of this great American institution," she said. "I know the kind of impact that will have on their lives, because I was one of those girls."
LISTEN: Amelia Lester takes us inside an Obama White House Christmas Party. Post continues below.
The reaction to the portraits on social media has been overwhelmingly positive.
A select few are criticising the choice to use the artist Wiley, as a number of his previous works depict African Americans holding the decapitated heads of white people.
However, for the most part, the flowery renditions serve as a happy reminder of the presidency that once was.
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Top Comments
My Facebook feed is quite critical of this, and with good reason I reckon.
A couple of points being made, it looks like he has grown a 5th finger on his left hand, parts of the leafy background definitely look repeated, as if it was photoshopped, and apparently the artist is well renowned for including sperm images in his art, and zoomed in, it certainly looks like one was included on Obama's left temple...
But what the hell do I know about art? (Oh and the Michelle one looks flat and washed out.)
Absolutely LOVE Obama's portrait