Members Preview “The Obama Portraits Tour”
Kehinde Wiley, Barack Obama, oil on canvas, 2018, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. © 2018 Kehinde Wiley / The National Portrait Gallery is grateful to the generous donors who made this commission possible and proudly recognizes them at npg.si.edu/obamaportraitstour
Amy Sherald, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama, oil on linen, 2018, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. / The National Portrait Gallery is grateful to the generous donors who made this commission possible and proudly recognizes them at npg.si.edu/obamaportraitstour
MFAH members at all levels are invited to enjoy early access to the exhibition The Obama Portraits Tour. The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery tour features Kehinde Wiley’s portrait of President Barack Obama and Amy Sherald’s portrait of Michelle Obama. Through the presentation of these two now-iconic works, the exhibition contemplates how portraiture has given visual form to ideas of power, identity, status, and legacy throughout history.
Curatorial Lecture in Brown Auditorium Theater
When you attend the preview, drop by for a prerecorded presentation by MFAH curator Anita Bateman and National Portrait Gallery curators Taína Caragol and Dorothy Moss. The video starts every hour on the hour beginning at 12 noon, with the final screening at 5 p.m. Brown Auditorium Theater is located on the lower level of the Law Building, and the exhibition is on the mezzanine level.
Tickets Exclusive access is available to members at all levels on Friday and Saturday, before the exhibition opens to the public on Sunday. Because of limited capacities, members are highly encouraged to get advance tickets online. Ticket availability cannot be guaranteed for drop-in visits.
Safety Guidelines A risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public setting. In the interest of your personal safety and community health, please observe all precautions set forth by the MFAH—learn more here.
Questions? Call the members hotline at 713.639.7550, Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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This tour has been organized by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Support for the national tour has been generously provided by Bank of America.
Generous support provided by:
Susan and Fayez Sarofim
H-E-B
Tony Chase and Dina al Sowayel
Joyce Z. Greenberg
Ellen S. Susman
Jay Jones and Terry Wayne Jones
Merinda Watkins-Martin and Reginald Martin
Reginald and Paula DesRoches; Al and Kim Odom; and Barron and Lisa Wallace