Sharon Sprung facts for kids

Sharon Sprung is a talented American painter who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She is famous for her amazing portrait paintings. Some of her well-known works include official portraits of important figures like Jeannette Rankin, Patsy Mink, and former First Lady Michelle Obama. She also teaches art at the Art Students League of New York.

Early Life and Art Journey

Sprung grew up in Glen Cove, New York. When she was six years old, her father passed away. She didn't speak for a whole year after that. During this time, all the pictures of him were lost. This made her want to paint portraits. She had to rely on her memory to remember his face.

At first, her mother wasn't sure about her becoming an artist. But in 1975, she received a special grant from The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation. This helped her start her art career. She began taking classes at the Art Student League in New York City. There, she learned from famous artists like Daniel E. Greene and Harvey Dinnerstein. She also briefly attended Cornell University but left because she wasn't happy with the art program there.

Her Painting Style

Sprung is known for her portraits that mix two styles: realism and abstraction. Realism means making things look very real, like a photograph. Abstraction means using shapes, colors, and forms that don't look exactly like real objects. Her paintings have clear parts that look like real people (figurative art) and parts that are more abstract.

She believes that the best realistic paintings also have good abstract qualities. She mostly uses oil paints on wood panels for her artwork. She calls her style "contemporary realism." She gets ideas from other famous artists like Velazquez, Caravaggio, Egon Shiele, Kathe Kollwitz, and Diane Arbus.

Sprung is especially known for painting women. She even created a series of paintings about young single mothers living near her in Brooklyn. As more people saw her work, she started getting special requests for portraits around 2007.

Teaching Art to Others

Sharon Sprung began teaching at the Art Student League of New York in 2004. In her classes, she often shows students how she paints a portrait from start to finish. She explains her process over a whole semester.

She encourages her students to spend more time looking at the person they are painting than actually painting. This helps them avoid being too critical of their own work. She also tells them not to name individual parts of the subject. She has also taught for a long time at the National Academy School. She even received a Lifetime Achievement award from their museum. While she is mainly known as a painter, she also teaches drawing.

Painting for Congress

In 2004, the House of Representatives asked Sprung to paint a portrait of Jeannette Rankin. Rankin was a suffragist and the first woman ever elected to the House in 1917. In the painting, Rankin is shown holding a newspaper about her being sworn into office.

To make this painting, Sprung found out what Rankin wore that day. She rented a similar costume and hired a model. She even found a copy of the old newspaper to make the scene accurate. Years later, in 2022, she painted Patsy Takemoto Mink. Mink was the first woman of color in Congress. Mink's portrait includes colors and shapes inspired by the Pacific Ocean and her home state of Hawaii.

Michelle Obama's Portrait

Sharon Sprung was chosen to paint the official White House portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama. The White House Historical Association asked her to do this important job. She worked on the painting for nine months. She faced small challenges with White House rules. For example, she wanted to move things around in rooms to get better lighting or a better scene.

Usually, these portraits are shown to the public during the next president's time in office. However, the Trump administration did not hold a ceremony for the Obamas' portraits. So, Sprung kept the finished painting in her studio. She had signed an agreement not to talk about it. This meant she had to keep it hidden for six years. Finally, the Bidens held an unveiling ceremony in 2022. Michelle Obama's portrait was displayed next to a painting of Barack Obama by Robert McCurdy. At the event, the former president thanked Sprung. He said she captured everything he loved about Michelle.

The portrait shows Obama sitting on a red sofa in the Red Room of the White House. She is wearing a turquoise off-the-shoulder dress. This dress was designed by Jason Wu, who made many clothes for her before. Sprung used several photographs to create the painting. According to Maegan Vazquez from CNN, the portrait shows Obama looking comfortable. She seems to be taking a short break in one of the White House's most formal rooms. Vazquez also noted that this was the first time such a portrait showed someone in a strapless dress.

Dan Kois from Slate said the portrait honors the past. He felt it also gently brings presidential portraits into the 21st century. He liked the fancy gold frame. Will Heinrich from New York Times compared Sprung's work to other artists. He said her painting reminds us that oil paint is great for truly looking at someone. He felt it was a good mix between the Obamas' wish for new ideas and the need to respect the White House's traditional look.

Personal Life

Since 1980, Sprung has lived and worked in Brooklyn, New York. She lives there with her husband, who is a psychotherapist.