Twitter users noted on Monday morning that Amy Sherald’s portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama resembled someone else, not its muse.
This is a beautiful portrait. It looks very little like Michelle Obama pic.twitter.com/1CsRrWIJtN
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) February 12, 2018
Michelle Obama is an elegant lady and the portrait looks nice. But clearly, the artist drew someone else. pic.twitter.com/659jRDHY33
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) February 12, 2018
“For Michelle Obama’s portrait, we decided to paint someone else.”
— Ben (@BenHowe) February 12, 2018
Yeah, Michelle Obama’s new portrait looks really weird. pic.twitter.com/FnSLcrYdCx
— Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) February 12, 2018
The former first lady’s painting was done by Sherald, a Baltimore-based artist who won the Gallery’s 2016 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition.
“As you may have guessed, I don’t think there’s anybody in my family who’s had a portrait done, let alone a portrait that will hang in the National Gallery,” Obama told attendees.
“I am a little overwhelmed, to say the least,” she added. “I am humbled. I am honored. I’m proud, but most of all, I am so incredibly grateful to all of the people who came before me in this journey — the folks who built the foundation on which I stand.”
Another Twitter user shared a collage of Sherald’s previous artwork, which features bright-colored portraits of people that also do not appear to resemble their subjects.
People snarking on the Michelle Obama portrait should really take 2 minutes to see it in the context of Amy Sherald’s other portraits. pic.twitter.com/CbDYTFey4V
— Schooley (@Rschooley) February 12, 2018
