July 31, 2023

The Blue Room (reception site)

President Joe Biden takes a selfie with mental health youth action forum participants. Official White House photograph by Adam Schultz. “We’ve invested $1 billion to help schools hire and train 14,000 new mental health counselors in schools across the country. We’re also taking steps to address the harm social media is doing to young people and hold these platforms accountable.” July 31, 2023

Fitz Henry Lane (1804-1865). Boston Harbor. 1854. Oil on canvas. Gift of the Wassermans, 1963. (Provenance: via Kennedy Galleries)

William Ranney (1813–1857). Boys Crabbing. 1855. Oil on canvas. Provenance: via Hirschl & Adler (added to the White House Collection in 1972)

Read more about the The Blue Room here by the White House Historical Assoc. and this short video tour:

photo: Fitz Henry Lane’s Boston Harbor at the MFA. David Cox. 2016

*I wrote about art at the White House in 2014 which was published here on GMG in 2015:

“What’s the best art inside the White House? No matter what is your artistic preference, Gloucester and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts could top the charts as the City and state with the best and most art ties featured at the White House. 

…How does the White House collection work? It is unusual for the White House to accept art by living artists. There are more than 450 works of art in the permanent collection. New art enters the collection after it’s vetted and is restricted to works created at least 25 years prior to the date of acquisition. For the public rooms, the Office of the Curator works with the White House advisory committee–the First Lady serves as the Honorary Chair–and the White House Historical Association. The private rooms are the domain of the First Family. Works of art from collectors, museums, and galleries can be requested for temporary loans and are returned at the end of the President’s final term. The Obamas have selected contemporary art, including abstract art, from the permanent collection, and borrowed work for their private quarters. Besides the Hopper paintings and John Alston’s Martin Luther King sculpture, they’ve selected art by *Anni Albers, *Josef Albers, Edgar Degas, Jasper Johns, Louise Nevelson, *Robert Rauschenberg, Edward Ruscha, and *Alma Thomas.” * indicates works that have been donated to the permanent collection.

Catherine Ryan, 2014