An official White House portrait is a specific painting or photograph in the White House Collection. A print on a home-office wall is not that object — and it is not meant to be.
People searching for “official White House portraits” usually want one of two things: the history of those commissions, or a print of a famous presidential likeness they can actually hang. This post covers both. It follows the White House Historical Association’s own account of official portraits, explains how that collection differs from the National Portrait Gallery, and states plainly what this shop sells: contemporary prints after historic images, made to order on fine art paper, luster photo paper, or mounted canvas.
What “official White House portrait” means
Since 1965, the White House Historical Association has funded official portraits of presidents and first ladies for the White House Collection. Recent presidents and first ladies typically choose their artists before leaving office, approve the finished work, and later return for a public presentation when the portrait enters the house.
The Association dates the modern unveiling ceremony to 24 May 1978, when President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter presented the portraits of Gerald R. Ford and Betty Ford in the East Room. Most later couples have come back for a similar ceremony, often years after leaving office. President Carter asked that his own portrait not have a ceremony.
The most recent unveiling the Association lists is 7 September 2022, when President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden presented Robert McCurdy’s 2018 portrait of Barack Obama and Sharon Sprung’s 2018 portrait of Michelle Obama.
“Official White House portraits” is the Association’s phrase for paintings it helped acquire for that collection. This shop uses that label on a product page only when the source record uses it for that image.
The White House Collection is older than the 1965 commissions
Presidential likenesses were hanging in the house long before the modern commissioning program. Earlier oils arrived through Congress, donors, and presidential families. Several of the best-known White House portraits were finished years after the sitting — and sometimes after the president’s death.
George Washington. Gilbert Stuart’s 1797 full-length of Washington, oil on canvas, 95 by 59 13/16 inches, is in the White House Collection. It is one of the images that taught later generations what the first president looked like in office. Closely related is Stuart’s 1796 Lansdowne portrait, the standing presidential likeness most people recognize. If that is the Washington you want on the wall, start with the George Washington Lansdowne Portrait or the full Washington collection.
Abraham Lincoln. George P. A. Healy’s 1869 oil of Lincoln is also in the collection. Lincoln sat for Healy in 1864. Healy reused the listening pose in The Peacemakers (1868), then painted Lincoln alone in Paris in 1869, after the assassination. President Grant chose a different likeness, by William Cogswell, for the White House. Robert Todd Lincoln bought the Healy; it entered the collection by bequest of Mrs. Robert Todd Lincoln in 1939 and hangs in the State Dining Room. The 1869 canvas is a White House portrait. It was not painted from a sitting in 1869.
Related prints in the shop include Abraham Lincoln, Cogswell, Abraham Lincoln, Healy 1887, The Peacemakers, and the rest of the Lincoln collection.
John F. Kennedy. Aaron Shikler’s White House portrait of Kennedy, completed in 1970, was painted seven years after the assassination from photographs and family commentary. It was a gift of the Association and first shown in the East Room on 5 February 1971. For Kennedy prints, see the John F. Kennedy collection, including the John F. Kennedy Presidential Portrait.
These three examples are the point: “official” or “White House” describes where a particular canvas lives and how it entered the collection. It does not mean you can take that canvas home.
The National Portrait Gallery is a different collection
The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery keeps its own complete set of presidential portraits. Those works are not the White House Collection. A Stuart Washington at the Gallery is not the 1797 White House Stuart.
When a product page here names an artist and a year, the caption follows the museum record for that image. It is not a claim that you are buying the museum’s object, a deaccessioned White House painting, or a vintage impression from the sitting.
What this shop sells
The listings are contemporary prints after historic presidential images. They are made to order on:
- Fine art paper — matte Japanese sheet, 10.3 mil, 189 g/m²
- Luster photo paper — fingerprint-resistant mix of gloss and matte, 10 mil, 260 g/m²
- Mounted canvas — textured poly-cotton on 1.5-inch solid wood stretcher bars, hanging hardware included
Common sizes run from 8×10 through 24×36 inches; some images also come in square formats. Not every portrait is offered in every size. Full specs, production time, and shipping are on the Presidential Prints page.
The shop currently has 136 portraits, from George Washington to the present, plus Benjamin Franklin. Where a museum record is clear, the product page lists artist, date, and sitting. Where it is not, those fields stay blank rather than guessed.
You are buying a print. You are not buying the original oil, the official White House canvas, or an object from the National Portrait Gallery.
If you want the look of an official portrait at home
Match the image to the room, then the material to how it will be seen.
Study, office, or fireplace wall. A mounted canvas in 16×20 or 18×24 holds its own next to bookshelves and woodwork. Washington’s full-length and Lincoln’s seated portraits are the usual starting points.
Bookshelf, classroom, or gift. Fine art paper or luster photo paper in 8×10 or 12×16 is easier to frame and ship. Luster suits photographic official portraits; matte fine art paper suits painted ones.
Pairs. Presidents and first ladies were often unveiled together. The First Ladies collection and listings such as Barack Obama’s White House Portrait sit naturally as two-piece sets.
A small gallery wall. One early president, one Civil War president, and one modern photographic portrait will read as a collection instead of a single souvenir.
Browse by president from the shop, or go straight to George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Barack Obama.
Frequently asked questions
Are these official White House portraits?
No. Official White House portraits are specific works in the White House Collection. These are contemporary prints after historic images.
Can I buy a print of a famous official portrait?
You can buy a contemporary print after a historic likeness — for example, Stuart’s Washington or a documented Lincoln or Kennedy portrait — on paper or canvas. You cannot buy the White House’s object.
Why don’t some product pages name the artist?
When the museum record is clear, the page lists artist and date. When it is not, the field is left blank.
What is the difference between the White House Collection and the National Portrait Gallery?
They are two separate public collections. Each has its own Washingtons, Lincolns, and modern portraits. A caption here follows the record for the source image, not a claim that the print is the museum piece.
What materials and sizes do you offer?
Fine art paper, luster photo paper, and mounted canvas, typically 8×10 to 24×36 inches. Details are on the Presidential Prints page.
Sources
- White House Historical Association, “Official White House Portraits”
- White House Historical Association, Presidential Portraits gallery
- White House Historical Association, Abraham Lincoln (Healy, 1869)
- White House Historical Association, Treasures of the White House: Abraham Lincoln
- White House Historical Association, “Lincoln in the State Dining Room”