Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Obama Presidential Center portrait anchors historic commission
Published on 08/19/2026 at 10:57 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Njideka Akunyili Crosby has painted the first official joint portrait of Barack Obama and Michelle Obama for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. The Obama Foundation unveiled the work The Obamas: Springing Forth in June 2026, as a David Zwirner news release notes. The gallery describes the commission and unveiling.
The Obama Presidential Center commission
The Obama Foundation commissioned Njideka Akunyili Crosby to create a large-scale, site-specific portrait of Barack and Michelle Obama for the museum lobby of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. David Zwirner describes the 2026 work The Obamas: Springing Forth as the first official joint portrait of the former president and first lady. The gallery lists the work among her recent projects.
According to the Obama Presidential Center presentation, the painting will greet visitors in the main lobby of the museum, sometimes referred to as the Hope and Change lobby, which is free to the public. A June 2026 report on the unveiling highlights that the work measures roughly 9 by 10 feet and anchors the lobby space as a visual statement of the Obama era. Coverage of the unveiling emphasizes the portrait's scale and public access.
Museum presence and collection context
Beyond the Obama commission, Njideka Akunyili Crosby has a growing presence in major museum collections. The Museum of Modern Art in New York included her work in the exhibition Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and Political Imagination, on view from December 14, 2025 to July 25, 2026, according to a MoMA press communication highlighted in an Art Blart report. The exhibition presented her 2013 work And We Begin to Let Go as part of a broader exploration of Pan-African subjectivities.
Art Blart notes that MoMA holds the large-scale work And We Begin to Let Go as a promised gift from Jerry I. Speyer and Katherine Farley, demonstrating how institutions anchor her practice in their permanent collections. This presence aligns with broader institutional recognition, including earlier exhibitions such as Contemporary Project 11: Njideka Akunyili Crosby at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, which centered on works like Still You Bloom in This Land of No Gardens.
All news and background on Njideka Akunyili Crosby
For more reporting on Njideka Akunyili Crosby's commissions, museum exhibitions and critical reception, explore the latest coverage in the AD HOC NEWS archive.
The work core and visual language
Njideka Akunyili Crosby works primarily in painting on paper and panel, combining acrylic, colored pencil, charcoal and layered photo transfers. Her compositions often stage domestic interiors where Nigerian family photographs and popular imagery merge with everyday scenes from her life in the United States.
Where the artist stands now
As of mid-August 2026, Njideka Akunyili Crosby's Obama Presidential Center commission and recent inclusion in MoMA's Ideas of Africa underscore an active institutional presence, while no further public museum opening dates have been announced within the immediate 30-day window.
Key facts on Njideka Akunyili Crosby
- Artist: Njideka Akunyili Crosby
- Medium / Genre: Painting and works on paper (figurative, collage-based)
- Born: 1983, Enugu, Nigeria
- Place(s) of practice: Studio in Los Angeles
- Active since: mid-2000s, with early exhibitions in the 2010s
- Key work groups: The Beautyful Ones, Portals, Still You Bloom in This Land of No Gardens, And We Begin to Let Go
- Current/last exhibition: Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and Political Imagination, Museum of Modern Art, New York, December 14, 2025 - July 25, 2026
- Major collections: Museum of Modern Art (New York), Tate (London), Norton Museum of Art (West Palm Beach), Blanton Museum of Art (Austin)
- Awards: MacArthur Fellowship (2017), Future Generation Art Prize (special prize, 2014)
- Next date: currently no announced date in the 30-day window
Frequently asked questions about Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Where can I see Njideka Akunyili Crosby's work in a museum context?
Recent exhibitions include Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and Political Imagination at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which ran from December 14, 2025 to July 25, 2026 and featured her 2013 work And We Begin to Let Go.
What is special about Njideka Akunyili Crosby's Obama Presidential Center portrait?
The 2026 painting The Obamas: Springing Forth is the first official joint portrait of Barack and Michelle Obama commissioned by the Obama Foundation, installed in the main lobby of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago and accessible to the public.
How does Njideka Akunyili Crosby combine Nigerian and American references in her paintings?
Her works layer acrylic paint with photographic transfers of Nigerian family snapshots, magazine images and textiles, placing these within domestic interiors that reflect her life in the United States, creating dense visual narratives of diasporic experience.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
