Obamas’ Portraits Going On Tour Next Year

The National Portrait Gallery unveiled its official portraits of Michelle and Barack Obama nearly two years ago. Since then, the gallery reports that attendance has nearly doubled. Next summer, the portraits will hit the road to reach an even wider audience. In Washington, D.C., dozens of people line up behind velvet ropes every day to admire artist Kehinde Wiley’s interpretation of the former president. It features Obama sitting at the edge of a wooden chair, surrounded by lush foliage. Pink and white flowers are dispersed across the canvas. “I think that it demonstrates the one drop of color that we’ve had in our 45 presidents, which is significant in its own way,” says Michael R. Jackson, one of many visitors at the gallery on a recent afternoon. Upstairs, near 20th century figures such as Toni Morrison and LL Cool J, the portrait Amy Sherald painted of Michelle Obama is displayed behind its own ropes. The former first lady poses against a pastel blue background, wearing a geometric