A painting by Cuban-born artist Carmen Herrera acquired under Former First Lady Jill Biden has become the first work by a Hispanic or Latine artist represented in the White House’s permanent art collection.
“Dia Feriado (Holiday)” (2011), a green and orange circular geometric painting, was acquired by the Committee for the Preservation of the White House under Jill Biden, as announced this week by Lisson Gallery. Herrera, who died at age 106 in New York City in 2022, had her first large-scale museum show at 83 at East Harlem’s El Museo del Barrio.
“We’re thrilled that Carmen’s work has been acquired by the White House Collection,” Kaeli Deane, senior director of Lisson Gallery and vice president of the Carmen Herrera Foundation said in a statement to Hyperallergic. “I know that as a Cuban-American who lived in New York City for over six decades, Carmen would have been honored to contribute to our national legacy.”
It is customary for White House acquisitions to be announced around the end of presidential administrations. The news of Herrera’s painting comes as President Donald Trump cracks down on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government, forcing the Smithsonian Institution and National Gallery of Art to shutter their initiatives last month.
As of last week, according to a Lisson spokesperson, “Dia Feriado” is hanging in the White House’s East Wing. The work joins 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 she spent living and working as an artist in the United States” in a press release. Before the John F. Kennedy administration hired the first curator for the White House Collection, new additions to the executive residence’s art holdings were mostly limited to Congress-commissioned or purchased portraiture.
The White House curator’s tenure typically extends beyond the administration that appointed them, as was the case of Lydia Tederick, who worked under Trump in his first presidency and later under Joe Biden until 2023. Biden appointee 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 Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino Board Chair Henry R. Muñoz III, according to a press release. Muñoz also sits on the board of SITE Santa Fe, where the work was displayed as part of the solo exhibition I’m Nobody! Who are you? before its acquisition.
Louis Grachos, director of SITE Santa Fe, said in a press release that Herrera’s geometric works “played an important role in extending 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 reflected and included in every institution in the United States, especially the White House,” Henry R. Muñoz III said in a press release. “Carmen Herrera having the honor of representing our community after decades of being overlooked due to barriers she faced as a Latina artist is especially meaningful.”
Acquired under former First Lady Jill Biden, the painting “Dia Feriado (Holiday)” (2011) is now hanging in the East Wing.
