The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is celebrating the arrival of The Obama Portraits with a free open house on Sunday, Nov. 7, the first day of a tour that will be in L.A. until Jan. 2, 2022.
Kehinde Wiley's "Barack Obama" and Amy Sherald's "Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama" are on loan from the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.
They will be held in the museum's Resnick Pavillion, along with the Black American Portraits Exhibition, which features 150 works - some of which will be on view for the first time.
Sunday's open house will includes a conversation with Amy Sherald, who painted the Michelle Obama portrait in oil paints on linen in 2018.
Museum officials said it is a true honor to host the works.
"The portraits of President Barack Obama by Kehinde Wiley and First Lady Michelle Obama by Amy Sherald are powerful works of art," said Michael Govan, LACMA CEO and Wallis Annenberg director.
"These have become two of the most recognized artworks in the world...have inspired already inspired millions of people and will be on view, side-by-side for the diverse and multi-generational audiences of Los Angeles."
The Obama Portraits tour began on June 18 in Chicago and will continue until May 30, 2022. Tour locations include the Art Institute in Chicago, Brooklyn Museum, LACMA, Atlanta's High Art Museum and Houston's Museum of Fine Arts, among others. For a full schedule of the tour, click here.
The museum said the accompanying Black American Portraits exhibition include works that span from more than two centuries of art "with highlights including a late 18th century portrait of a sailor," works depicting emancipation and scenes from the Harlem Renaissance.
LACMA galleries open at 11 a.m. on Sunday, and between noon and 6 p.m. the museum will host live music and family activities, according to CBS. To schedule a visit to the LACMA, click here. And remember, L.A. residents can always attend the museum for free after 3 p.m. on weekdays with proof of residence.
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