- One of the few ceremonies we have
that show the flow of American history
and the importance of democracy is the unveiling
of a portrait of a former president
and first lady in the east room.
- I think it's fair to say
that every president is acutely aware
that we are just temporary residents.
We're renters here.
And we're charged with the upkeep until our lease runs out.
But we also leave a piece of ourselves in this place.
- There's a custom for the official portraits
of our presidents and first ladies, two sets are done.
One set is done by and for the National Portrait Gallery,
and the other set is done funded
by the White House Historical Association
for the people's house, the white house
- These paintings at their best
are when a president basically says,
we want paintings that are of the time
that we serve in the white house.
- I think it's interesting that the Obama's had a keen sense
of the type of artists that they wanted
and that process was done pretty quickly.
- I'm Robert McCurdy, I painted the official
White House painting of Barack Obama.
- My name is Sharon Sprung,
I was honored to paint Michelle Obama.
- When I first started doing these paintings,
I come from a minimalist background,
but I could never settle on what the actual subject was.
Subject ultimately for me was this idea of the gaze,
two people looking directly at each other
with nothing else there to load the narrative.
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- What was most remarkable was they wanted a modern sense.
I mean, I'm traditional in the sense of how I paint an eye
or a face, and I know the skills, but I don't want it
to look like it was done in 1913 or whatever.
I want it to look this time and place.
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- The Obamas of their best have always wanted to connect
with people and say, this is who we are.
- The eyes of these portraits
looking directly at the person, looking at them,
I think that is a very personal engagement.
- The painting is not telling the story of Barack Obama.
It's telling the story of the relationship
of the viewer with this particular person.
And that's a two way street.
- I don't know how my paintings are gonna turn out.
You just follow your feeling the whole time.
And I have enough confidence at this point
in myself as a painter to do that.
- I start big, big brushes, big movements.
And then I start to sort of refine that down.
- Every little moment in a painting, changes something.
Like I did the dress and I did a light on the dress,
the whole thing changed.
I didn't work on anything else but her
for I'd say eight, nine months total.
- I know what I have to do.
I know how to get there.
It's just running the marathon for about 18 months.
- When I walk in the studio in the morning
and the painting starts breathing
and living and talking to me, then I know it's done.
- About two months before I'm finished.
I'll think I'm finished and I'll just keep looking at it.
And there'll be something that jumps out
and demands my attention.
And I'll just keep doing that until it doesn't anymore.
Sometimes the most important things happen in those moments.
- I wanted people to pass by the painting
and recognize her, or be more curious even about her,
or to read more about her, but to get her.
- The way the painting is constructed
is entirely about the viewer.
The goal is to have it out there for people to engage.
Couldn't be happier to have been able to do that.
- These portraits of presidents and first ladies
going all the way back to our first president
to see a continuum of life and legacy and leadership
that remind us that the white house doesn't belong
to whoever's living there now,
it has belonged and has been inhabited
by all of these presidents that have gone before,
and many many more will follow.
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