Sharon Sprung

Sharon Sprung is an American painter based in Brooklyn, New York. She is primarily known for her portrait paintings such as Congressional portraits of Jeannette Rankin and Patsy Mink, as well as former First Lady Michele Obama's official White House portrait. She is an instructor at the Art Students League of New York.

Early life and education Sprung grew up in Glen Cove, New York. When she was 6, her father died and she did not speak for a year. She developed an early interest in portrait painting after all the pictures of him were destroyed and she had to rely on memory to remember his face. According to The Artist's Magazine, she "feels that the best realistic painting is actually good abstraction".

She is especially known for portraits of women, including a series of paintings of young single mothers who lived near her in Brooklyn. Though known primarily as a painter, she also teaches drawing. Sprung learned what Rankin wore when she was sworn in, rented a costume, hired a model, and found a copy of the newspaper to produce the scene in the painting.

Michelle Obama portrait Sprung was commissioned to paint former First Lady Michelle Obama's official White House portrait by the White House Historical Association. The portraits are typically unveiled during the succeeding president's administration, but the Trump administration never held the ceremony for the Obamas, so Sprung kept the completed portrait in her studio.

The portrait depicts Obama sitting on a red sofa in the Red Room of the White House, wearing a turquoise off-the-shoulder dress designed by Jason Wu, who designed several garments for her in the past. Will Heinrich of the New York Times compared the portrait to those by other artists, noting the way Sprung's work "is a reminder that oil paint remains the best technology for really looking at someone" and presents a "compromise between the Obamas' desire to innovate and the imperative to respect the White House aesthetic".

Personal life Since 1980, Sprung has lived and worked in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, a psychotherapist.