Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery Acquires
Shepard Fairey Obama HOPE Portrait
from Irvine Contemporary’s Regime Change Starts at Home Exhibition
We are pleased to announce that the National Portrait Gallery has acquired Shepard Fairey’s iconic Obama HOPE portrait through a generous gift of Tony and Heather Podesta. The unique hand-stenciled and collaged painting will be on view in the “new acquisitions” wing of the National Portrait Gallery in time for the inauguration of President Obama on January 20. Congratulations to Shepard Fairey on this important achievement, and many thanks to our friends Tony and Heather Podesta for their generosity and support of this acquisition at this historic moment!
Fit for a T: Portrait Gallery Gets Obama ‘Hope’ Collage
That campaign-defining image of Barack Obama that burned itself into your brain this past year is headed to the National Portrait Gallery.
The original red-and-blue “Hope” collage by graphic designer Shepard Fairey that inspired countless posters, T-shirts and buttons has been obtained by the gallery via a gift from Washington superlobbyists Tony and Heather Podesta.
The two are longtime fans of Fairey who have several other works of his in their large, eye-popping modern-art collection. Though they’ve donated to other local museums, this is their first to the Portrait Gallery — and the Portrait Gallery’s first Obama image to join its permanent collection.
“It seemed like a historic moment for the country, and a chance to do something for art and Democrats,” Tony Podesta, brother of transition co-chairman John Podesta, told us. The gift is in honor of their late mother, Mary K. Podesta, who became an ardent supporter of the future president after meeting him at their fundraiser for his 2004 Senate race. “She would giggle and say, ‘He liked my cooking!’ ” Heather Podesta recalled.
The surprisingly large work — 60 inches by 44 inches — will hang in the “new arrivals” gallery on the museum’s first floor, where its nearby neighbor will be the newly unveiled Laura Bush portrait. Gallery spokeswoman Bethany Bentley said it will be up by Inauguration Day.
(From The Washington Post, Reliable Source, Style, January 7, 2009 – image courtesy of National Portrait Gallery ©Shepard Fairey)
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