Art in the White House

The Avenue in the Rain by Childe Hassam (1917), depicting Fifth Avenue in New York City, has hung in the Oval Office during Bill Clinton's, Barack Obama's, Donald Trump's and Joe Biden's administrations.

The White House's art collection, sometimes also called the White House Collection or Pride of the American Nation,[1] has grown over time from donations from descendants of the Founding Fathers to commissions by established artists.[2] It comprises paintings, sculptures, and other art forms.[3] At times, the collection grows from a president's specific request, such as when Ronald Reagan began collecting the work of naval artist Tom Freeman in 1986, a tradition that continued through the Obama years.[4]

History

The White House's Art collection was established by an Act of Congress in 1961 and grew extensively during the Kennedy Administration.[5] It now includes more than 65,000 objects if individual items are catalogued.[6] As of 2021, there are more than 500 pieces on view under the care of the White House Curator and the White House Historical Association,[7] and these are often complemented by those on loan from museums.[8][6][9]

Official presidential and spousal portraits

Additional portraits

Landscape paintings

Marine paintings

Still life paintings

Historical and genre paintings

Sculptures

See also

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Upon the death of American art historian and art collector Charles Loeser in 1928, his will directed that the President of the United States would be able to choose eight of his Paul Cézanne "to adorn the White House".[10][11]
Sources
  1. ↑ "Art in the White House". clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  2. ↑ "Art for the President's House: An Historical Perspective (Early - Middle 1800's)". georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  3. ↑ "Diversity in White House Art". WHHA (en-US). Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  4. ↑ "Reagan to Obama: Naval Art in the White House". U.S. Naval Institute. 1 February 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  5. ↑ Taubman, Howard (20 July 1967). "Art in the White House; Quality Portraits of the First Ladies And Americana Are Sought for Mansion (Published 1967)". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  6. 1 2 Wecker, Menachem (5 February 2018). "Beyond the Golden Toilet: How Does Art End Up in the White House, and What Does It Tell Us About Our Leaders?". Artnet News. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  7. ↑ Kloss, William; Bolger, Doreen; Curry, David Park; Monkman, Betty; Wilmerding, John (1992). Art in the White House: A Nation's Pride. White House Historical Association. ISBN 978-0-8109-3965-3. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  8. ↑ Bednarz, Christine (31 October 2012). "When President Becomes Curator: Art in the White House". MutualArt. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  9. ↑ "Art in the White House". White House Historical Association. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  10. ↑ "LOESER WILL CALLS HARVARD UNSIGHTLY; Art Critic, Writing in 1924, Regretted New Buildings in "Yard" He Loved. MAKES IT RESIDUARY HEIR Bequest of $500,000, Contingent on Trust Fund to Wife and Daughter, Is Not for Construction. Harvard Is Residuary Legatee. Sister Gets Williams Estate". The New York Times. 7 April 1928. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  11. ↑ "WHITE HOUSE HANGS 2 CEZANNE PAINTINGS". The New York Times. 4 May 1961. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.