Meet the Artists Who Painted the Obama White House Portraits

When Robert McCurdy’s and Sharon Sprung’s official White House portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama wereunveiled Wednesday, they looked like the buttoned-up cousins of the bold portraits the National Portrait Gallerydebuted in 2018. McCurdy’s painting of Barack Obama is hyperrealistic and no frills. Sprung’s first lady isstraightforward and simple.