Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama unveil their official White House portraits during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday in Washington. Associated Press

Andrew Harnik

WASHINGTON — Former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, returned to the White House on Wednesday for the unveiling of their official portraits: him standing expressionless against a white background and her seated on a sofa in the Red Room wearing a formal light blue dress.

“Barack and Michelle, welcome home,” President Joe Biden said before he invited the Obamas to the stage to unveil the portraits.

“It’s great to be back,” Obama said.

The artist whom Barack Obama selected to paint his portrait says the “stripped down” style of his works helps create an “encounter” between the person in the painting and the person looking at it.

Robert McCurdy likes to present his subjects without any facial expression and standing against a white background, which is how America’s 44th and first Black president is seen in a black suit and gray tie.

McCurdy works from a photograph of his subjects, selected from hundreds of images. He spends a year to 18 months on a portrait and said he knows he’s done “when it stops irritating me.”

The former first lady chose artist Sharon Sprung for her portrait.

Sprung had planned to have Mrs. Obama stand in the portrait, “to give it a certain dignity,” but said the former first lady “has so much dignity that I decided to do it sitting just because ... it was too much looking up at her. I’m that much shorter than her.”

Sprung worked on the portrait for eight months, day and night, the most time she’s ever spent on a single painting. She worked entirely from photographs taken in various locations on the State Floor of the White House. Getting the dress just right was the hardest part, she said.

“The color was so beautiful and I really wanted to get the strength of the color and the light,” said Sprung.

Recent tradition has had the current president hosting his immediate predecessor for the unveiling — as Bill Clinton did for George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush did for Clinton and Obama did for the younger Bush.

Obama’s portrait is destined for display in the Grand Foyer of the White House, the traditional showcase for paintings of the two most recent presidents.

Mrs. Obama’s portrait likely will be placed with her predecessors along the hallway on the Ground Floor of the White House.