A painting by the artist Carmen Herrera born in Cuban who was taken over under former First Lady Jill Biden has become the first work of a Spanish or Latin artist represented in the permanent art collection of the White House.
“Dia Feriado (Holiday)” (2011), a green and orange circular geometric painting, was taken over by the Commission for the preservation of the White House under Jill Biden, as announced this week by Lisson Gallery. Herrera, who died at the age of 106 in New York City in 2022, had her first large-scale museum show at the age of 83 in El Museo del Barrio by East Harlem.
“We are very happy that Carmen’s work was taken over by the White House collection,” said Kaeli Deane, senior director of Lisson Gallery and vice president of the Carmen Herrera Foundation in a statement Hyperallergic. ‘I know that if a Cuban-American who had been living in New York City for more than six decades, Carmen would be honored to contribute to our national legacy. ”
It is common for acquisitions of the White House to be announced around the end of the presidential administrations. The news of Herrera’s painting comes when President Donald Trump comes the programs for diversity, shares and inclusion (dei) in the federal government, the Smithsonian Institution and National Gallery of Art to close their initiatives last month.
From last week, “Dia Feriado” hangs according to a Lisson spokesperson in the eastern wing of the White House. The work is more than 500 Other acquisitions, including presidential portraits, in the Executive Mansion.
Jill Biden called the acquisition “an incredible recognition of the more than seven decades that she spent with life and working as an artist in the United States” in one press release. Before the John F. Kennedy administration the first curator For the collection of the White House, new additions to the art ownership of the Executive Residence were usually limited to commissioned or purchased portraits.
The term of office of the Witte House curator usually goes beyond the administration that they appointed, as was the case of Lydia Tederick, who worked under Trump until 2023 in his first presidency and later under Joe Biden. Biden Donna Hayashi Smith currently holds the position and brought “Dia Feriado” to Jill Biden’s attention, according to a press release.
The original idea to hang “Dia Feriado” in the White House belonged to the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino Board chairman Henry R. Muñoz III, according to a press release. Muñoz is also on the board of the Santa Fe site, where the work was displayed as part of the Solo exhibition I am no one! Who are you? before the acquisition.
Louis Grachos, director of site Santa Fe, said in a press release that Herrera’s geometric works “played an important role in expanding our understanding of modernist principles and values in contemporary art.”
“It has long been a dream of the Latino community to see ourselves and our contributions again and recorded in every institution in the United States, especially the White House,” said Henry R. Muñoz III in a press release. “Carmen Herrera who has the honor of representing our community after decades overlooked because of barriers with which she was confronted as a Latina artist is especially useful.”
