Obama’s is actually a hyperrealistic painting, based on the label. Probably directly based on a photograph, but not itself a photograph. I don’t think I’d seen it prior to this.
Trump Term 1 looks like the first time we dropped the painting as a medium for the photograph.
Hah. I was looking at them again and realized that they got much lighter, and I just realized what I bet that was.
Most of the original paintings are done indoors, and almost all of those are dark. The light ones are outside. The only exception is #13, Millard Filmore. Then, suddenly, at Theodore Roosevelt, all of the portraits are indoors…but almost all are bright.
I realized that that’s right about when electrical lighting showed up. It looks like the White House got electric lights in 1891, during Harrison’s term:
President Benjamin Harrison and First Lady Caroline Harrison refused to operate the switches because they feared being shocked and left the operation of the electric lights to the domestic staff.
I assume that Harrison’s portrait, done at the beginning of his term, would have predated that.
William McKinley was after that and was also dark – I don’t know why. Maybe tradition. But it’s the final one. After that, virtually everyone is in bright environments.
Obama’s is actually a hyperrealistic painting, based on the label. Probably directly based on a photograph, but not itself a photograph. I don’t think I’d seen it prior to this.
Trump Term 1 looks like the first time we dropped the painting as a medium for the photograph.
Hah. I was looking at them again and realized that they got much lighter, and I just realized what I bet that was.
Most of the original paintings are done indoors, and almost all of those are dark. The light ones are outside. The only exception is #13, Millard Filmore. Then, suddenly, at Theodore Roosevelt, all of the portraits are indoors…but almost all are bright.
I realized that that’s right about when electrical lighting showed up. It looks like the White House got electric lights in 1891, during Harrison’s term:
I assume that Harrison’s portrait, done at the beginning of his term, would have predated that.
William McKinley was after that and was also dark – I don’t know why. Maybe tradition. But it’s the final one. After that, virtually everyone is in bright environments.