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Art in the White House

The collection of fine art at the White House has evolved and grown over time. The collection began with mostly presidential portraits, commissioned or purchased by Congress, or donated by presidential descendants. In the era before photography, some presidents invited painters to set up studios in the White House to record significant events and paint their likeness. In the late

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John James Audubon and the American Presidency

Look at the John Syme portrait of John James Audubon that is now included in the White House art collection, and you get a quick idea of Audubon’s gifts as a showman. Today, Audubon (1785–1851) endures in popular memory as the world’s most famous artist of birds. But when he agreed to pose for Syme in 1826, Audubon was still strugg