Barack and Michelle Obama will come to the White House for their portraits

U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will welcome former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama to the White House Wednesday for the unveiling of their official portraits.

Portraits of presidents are on display in different rooms of the White House, starting with a portrait of the first president, George Washington, purchased by Congress.

Other portraits of the first presidents were added to the collection as gifts.

Since 1965, the portraits have been funded by the White House Historical Association, a private nonprofit organization. The first such portraits were those of Lyndon Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson and John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy.

“In recent years, presidents and first ladies usually choose artists before they leave the White House and approve portraits before they are formally presented to the public and added to the collection,” the association said in a statement. – The artists strive to capture the unique look and personality of each, pulling together our presidential history through these individual works of art.”

The official portraits of Barack Obama and his wife were created and kept secret, and the public will learn the artists’ names only when they are unveiled.