Portraits of former president and first lady Barack and Michelle Obama were unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., Monday morning, USA Today reported.
Barack Obama joked that he tried to get artist Kehinde Wiley to give him less gray hair and smaller ears, the newspaper said.
Michelle Obama commended artist Amy Sherald, for her work, who captured the former first lady in a seated position, wearing a geometric pattern dress and against a light blue background, USA Today wrote.
National Public Radio said the paintings were, like the Obamas, a historic first. Wiley and Sherald, who were already well-known for their portraits of African-Americans, became the first black painters to receive a presidential portrait commission from the museum, NPR noted.
Kim Sajet, the director of the gallery, told the audience, according to NPR, that a portrait was not truly finished until they were viewed by the public.
Some on social media were complimentary of the renderings.
Others, though, were critical, particularly of the Michelle Obama's portrait.
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