On Friday, President Trump’s official portrait, showing a moment following an assassination attempt against him last summer, took the place of Barack Obama’s official photo at the White House.
It is rare to hang a new presidential portrait without prior notification, and Trump’s decision to place himself in that spot might be considered as another example of him breaking with standards. The entryway traditionally features pictures of the two most recent presidents to hold the office; Trump, however, has the distinct distinction of simultaneously holding the office of president.
After being unveiled in 2022, Obama’s image was displayed in the entryway of the State Floor, close to the stairway leading to the president’s house. According to the White House, it has been relocated to the other wall from the image of former President George W. Bush, but it is still located in the entryway.
Plans call for repositioning Bush’s photo on the home staircase so it is closer to that of his father, former President George H.W. Bush.
Posting a snapshot of the new artwork alongside the words “Some new artwork at the White House” and two emoji eyes, the White House made the surprising announcement on its official account on X. After an assassination attempt on Trump’s life at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in July, the artwork depicts the aftermath. After suffering an ear injury, Trump clenched his fist and yelled out, “fight, fight, fight!”
In his victorious reelection campaign, those comments became a rallying cry.
The White House said that Andrew Pollock, through the Blue Gallery in Delray Beach, Florida, gave the original artwork on canvas created by artist Marc Lipp to the government.
A Modern Pop Art who expresses his passion for art via paintings and sculptures is how Lipp is characterized in his online biography found on the Blue Gallery website. Meadow Pollack, whose daughter was a victim of the 2018 mass shooting at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, is an author and an advocate for school safety.
The current president has frequently graciously hosted his immediate predecessor for the presentation of his picture, regardless of party membership, but Trump did not do the same for Obama.
Following in the footsteps of Democratic Bill Clinton and younger President Bush, it was left to then-President Joe Biden and his wife Jill to invite former President Obama and his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, to the White House in 2022 for the unveiling of their portraits.
During the 2012 portrait unveiling, the Obamas graciously welcomed George W. Bush and Laura, his wife, to the White House.
While Trump was in his first term in office, he did not host Barack Obama, which caused an inexplicable halt.
It will probably be a few years before pictures of Biden and the former first lady are commissioned and finished, since he left office about three months ago.
Even outside of the Oval Office, Trump has been interested with artwork.
Last month, Trump’s complaint over the painting’s “purposefully distorted” portrayal led to its removal from the Colorado state capitol, where it had been displayed with other presidential pictures.
Beginning with the first president of the United States, George Washington, the portrait collection of the White House begins. He had a portrait purchased by Congress.
The White House frequently received additional pictures of former presidents and first wives as presents. The majority of the artworks have been funded by the White House Historical Association since the 1960s. According to Stewart McLaurin, head of the private, nonprofit organization founded by first lady Kennedy, the association first funded portraits of Lyndon B. Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson, as well as John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy.
Portraits of presidents and first ladies are visible to millions of visitors to the White House, but not all of them are on exhibit. Some of them are in storage or are being preserved.
Those on exhibit may be found in several public rooms and halls of the estate, including the Vermeil and China Rooms on the Ground Floor and the State Floor, which is one level above, housing the renowned Green, Blue, and Red Rooms, as well as the East Room and State Dining Room.