Barack and Michelle Obama have unveiled their first official painted portrait together, unveiled in advance of the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago later this week.
Painted by Njideka Akunyili Crosby, The Obamas: Springing Forth (2026) will be permanently installed in the museum’s Hope and Change Lobby, a public space that does not require a ticket.
The former president and first lady had a preview of the painting on June 14th, ahead of the Center’s public opening celebrations over the coming days. “It’s us and all of the stories within the story,” Michelle Obama said as she viewed the work.
Akunyili Crosby is best known for her richly layered paintings that weave together personal memory, photography, and history and is represented by David Zwirner and Victoria Miro. The Nigerian-born, Los Angeles–based artist approached the Obama portrait as a visual archive. Based on an original photograph taken by the artist, the work incorporates family photographs, historical imagery, political memorabilia, and cultural references through her signature photo-transfer technique.
The painting is filled with details tracing the Obamas’ personal and political journeys. Among them are Michelle Obama’s childhood home on Chicago’s South Side, the Martin Luther King Jr. bust that occupied the Oval Office during the Obama administration, Stevie Wonder’s Talking Book album, charms gifted to Barack Obama by constituents that he carried during his presidency, and a bookshelf lined with books, family mementos, photographs, and the couple’s four Grammy Awards.
Akunyili Crosby also embedded hundreds of historical references throughout the composition, drawing on imagery from the Civil Rights Movement, the Obama presidency, Chicago history, and the couple’s personal archives. The new portrait joins a major art program at the Obama Presidential Center, which features commissions by more than 30 artists, including Julie Mehretu, Rashid Johnson, Carrie Mae Weems, Lorna Simpson, Jeffrey Gibson, Maya Lin, Martin Puryear, and Theaster Gates.
The high-profile commission makes Akunyili Crosby one of the few artists who have been entrusted with depicting the former first couple. In 2018, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., revealed individual portraits of both Barack and Michelle Obama by artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, respectively. The first such portraits to be commissioned from African American artists, the paintings became major cultural touchstones, drawing record crowds and later embarking on a national museum tour.
