Michelle Obama âs Portrait Isnât a Photograph. Get Over It
Michelle Obama
âIt doesnât even look like  her .â
That one comment  culled from thousands online about  Baltimore artist Amy Sheraldâs portrait of Michelle Obama  unveiled today at the Smithsonian Instituteâs National Portrait Gallery  sums up a familiar response to the publicâs often less-than flattering responses to portrait painting.
In  the portrait    Mrs. Obama  sits in a custom dress designed by Millyâs Michelle Smith of bold geometric shapes   her  expression challenging the viewer.  Her  face and skin are grey  as Sherald often paints  her  subjects.
It doesnât look exactly like  her   it doesnât look exactly not like  her . It is a representation of Mrs. Obama  who sat for Sherald the artist  and the responses to the result sum up the tension between artist and sitter and artist and spectator  too.
Holland Cotter  art critic for the New York Times  said  Mrs. Obama âs portrait face was too far removed from the real one.
This gets at the central tension of the art of the portrait. Just how much should a portrait be about physical likeness  versus conveying psychological truth  or an insight into character? The furor over  Michelle Obamaâs  portrait suggests we want a portrait to deliver the first above all else.
What peopleâs kvetching comes down to: this painting isnât enough like a photograph. The spirit that  Mrs. Obama  represented to so many seems lacking in the more restrained  removed spirit of Sheraldâs work. But the public face of  Michelle Obama  isn't the only face. Sherald is arguably trying to show us another face.
In this sense  Kehinde Wileyâs accompanying portrait of  Barack Obama  is seen as more successful. It looks more like the photographic  Barack Obama  we know. Here  any outrage voiced seems to have been about the background  which features flowers from three significant places to  him : Kenya  Hawaii and Chicago.
"I tried to negotiate less gray 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."
Both painters aimed to do something beyond simple replication for their portraits. The backdrop of a bush  or garden  endows  Barack Obama  with a literal life force. The garden is green and vibrant behind  him . The setting is entirely complimentary to  his  persona; in the painting  he  is sitting forward  alert.  He  is fixing us with a wizened glare. This garden is pure Obama Zen.
 Mrs. Obama âs portrait is starker  and psychologically richer. "Amy  I want to thank you for so spectacularly capturing the grace and beauty and intelligence and charm and hotness of the woman I love " Mr. Obama said.
 Mrs. Obama  said  she  hoped "girls and girls of color" would âsee an image of someone who looks like them hanging on the walls of this great American institution ... And I know the kind of impact that will have on their lives because I was one of those girls.â
In  her  remarks   Mrs. Obama  acknowledges what  her  portraitâs detractors do not; that a painting such as this is a distillation rather than impersonation. It is the personâs spirit in the moment of sitting  rather than a literal embodiment of that person.
If you really feel that Michelle Obamaâs portrait is a dud  the queen got it far worse in George Condoâs portrait of her  envisioning her with a huge neck and bulbous cheeks and chin. A Cabbage Patch Doll  scoffed the critics.
You may not think  Michelle Obama  looks much like  herself  in this new portrait   she  may not be the public  Michelle Obama  you have seen and responded to  but at least  she  doesnât look like someone or something else entirely.
âIt doesnât even look like  her .â
That one comment  culled from thousands online about  Baltimore artist Amy Sheraldâs portrait of  [TGT] unveiled today at the Smithsonian Instituteâs National Portrait Gallery  sums up a familiar response to the publicâs often less-than flattering responses to portrait painting.
In  the portrait     [TGT] sits in a custom dress designed by Millyâs Michelle Smith of bold geometric shapes    [TGT]   expression challenging the viewer.   [TGT]   face and skin are grey  as Sherald often paints   [TGT]   subjects.
It doesnât look exactly like   [TGT]    it doesnât look exactly not like   [TGT]  . It is a representation of Mrs. Obama  who sat for Sherald the artist  and the responses to the result sum up the tension between artist and sitter and artist and spectator  too.
Holland Cotter  art critic for the New York Times  said   [TGT]  âs portrait face was too far removed from the real one.
This gets at the central tension of the art of the portrait. Just how much should a portrait be about physical likeness  versus conveying psychological truth  or an insight into character? The furor over  Michelle Obamaâs  portrait suggests we want a portrait to deliver the first above all else.
What peopleâs kvetching comes down to: this painting isnât enough like a photograph. The spirit that   [TGT] represented to so many seems lacking in the more restrained  removed spirit of Sheraldâs work. But the public face of  Michelle Obama  isn't the only face. Sherald is arguably trying to show us another face.
In this sense  Kehinde Wileyâs accompanying portrait of   [TGT] is seen as more successful.  [TGT]  looks more like the photographic   [TGT] we know. Here  any outrage voiced seems to have been about the background  which features flowers from three significant places to  him : Kenya  Hawaii and Chicago.
"I tried to negotiate less gray hair and Kehinde's artistic integrity would not allow ( him ) to do what I asked "   [TGT] said. "I tried to negotiate smaller ears. Struck out on that as well."
Both painters aimed to do something beyond simple replication for their portraits. The backdrop of a bush  or garden  endows  Barack Obama  with a literal life force. The garden is green and vibrant behind  him . The setting is entirely complimentary to  his  persona; in the painting  he  is sitting forward  alert.  He  is fixing us with a wizened glare. This garden is pure Obama Zen.
 Mrs. Obama âs portrait is starker  and psychologically richer. "Amy  I want to thank you for so spectacularly capturing the grace and beauty and intelligence and charm and hotness of the woman I love " Mr. Obama said.
 Mrs. Obama  said  she  hoped "girls and girls of color" would âsee an image of someone who looks like them hanging on the walls of this great American institution ... And I know the kind of impact that will have on their lives because I was one of those girls.â
In  her  remarks   Mrs. Obama  acknowledges what  her  portraitâs detractors do not; that a painting such as this is a distillation rather than impersonation. It is the personâs spirit in the moment of sitting  rather than a literal embodiment of that person.
If you really feel that Michelle Obamaâs portrait is a dud  the queen got it far worse in George Condoâs portrait of her  envisioning her with a huge neck and bulbous cheeks and chin. A Cabbage Patch Doll  scoffed the critics.
You may not think  Michelle Obama  looks much like  herself  in this new portrait   she  may not be the public  Michelle Obama  you have seen and responded to  but at least  she  doesnât look like someone or something else entirely.