Houston Snapshots

The Obama Portraits Tour Comes to Houston at MFAH-Preview and Dinner for the Exhibition

Event Date:  March 30, 2022
Location:  The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston-Caroline Wiess Law Building
Event:  Gala and Exhibition Preview
No. of Attendees:  130+
Beneficiary:  The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Cuisine:  City Kitchen and Lucille’s
Photography:  Wilson Parish

The Obama Portraits Tour Comes to Houston at MFAH-
-Preview and Dinner for the Exhibition

In 2018, the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian commissioned paintings of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. The paintings “Barack Obama” and “Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama” were painted by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald respectively. These artists are the first African Americans to have been selected for the Portrait Gallery’s official portraits of a President or First Lady. Lead donors for the project include filmmaker Steven Spielberg and his wife Kate Capshaw.

The centuries-long tradition of painting portraits of political leaders has served to create timeless and primary images of U.S. presidents. These two artists worked independently from one another and effectively re-envisioned how a leader and his wife will be memorialized in our nation’s museums.

Over 130 guests gathered at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in late March to celebrate this exhibition in Cullinan Hall, which is open to the public through Sunday, May 30.

A preview of the exhibition, followed by a seated dinner from City Kitchen and dessert from Lucille’s, set the tone for a wonderful evening. Gary Tinterow, Director of the MFAH, thanked Museum donors and exhibition lenders for their unwavering support.

Socially present (not previously mentioned):  Nancy and Rich Kinder, Rodney Ellis and Licia Green-Ellis, Barron and Lisa Wallace, Dennis and Tiffany Hatchett, Marc Grossberg, Bobbie Nau, Polly and Murry Bowden, Reggie Martin, Levita and M.D. Marshall, Van Ngo and David Ruiz

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