With All Due Respect to the Obamas' New Portraits, Twitter Offers Up Funny Alternatives

On Monday, Barack and Michelle Obama unveiled their new official portraits at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. And though the stunning works by artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald debuted to largely rave reviews, folks on Twitter had fun offering up some humorous alternative portraits of the former president.

Several Twitter users were disappointed that Wiley didn’t take this opportunity to paint Obama in the headline-making tan suit he wore to a 2014 press conference — much like Dutch artist Edwin van den Dikkenberg did in an unofficial portrait of the former president that went viral in June 2017.

One Photoshop-savvy tweeter even went so far as to edit van den Dikkenberg’s rendering of an oatmeal-suited Obama into Wiley’s portrait.

Another quipped that while Wiley’s depiction of Obama was amazing, “I really hope there’s another version with the tan suit and a cigarette.”

Others seemed to think Obama’s look was perfect, but that Wiley’s lush backdrop called for a little added intrigue.

Like Sean Spicer hiding “among” the bushes.

Or Homer Simpson disappearing into the bushes.

It put others in mind of Real Housewife Luann de Lesseps‘ own dramatic brush with a bush.

And Chris Christie’s beach-chair debacle.

The references ran the gamut from Beyoncé to both Bush presidents.

And, amid New York Fashion Week, one tweeter shared a photo of Obama in an imagined Kehinde Wiley-inspired ensemble that would put the former president’s infamous tan suit to shame.