With Obamas, art changes on White House walls

The US First Couple has taken 47 works of art on loan to decorate the White House, displaying a taste for modern and contemporary art and works by minority artists.
This image provided by the Smithsonian's American Art Museum shows the painting Flower to Teacher, ca. 1944, by William H. Johnson. The work is on loan from the museum to the White House of President Barack Obama, where it is currently on display. ( Photo AP)

'Sunset' by Winslow Homer

Art selected by President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama from five galleries include works from the National Gallery of Art and the Hirshhorn, a sculpture gallery.
This handout image received October 7, 2009 courtesy of The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC shows 'Sunset' by Winslow Homer( c. 1875 oil on canvas 39.4 x 57.2 cm (15 1/2 x 22 1/2 in.). (AFP PHOTO)

'Black Like Me #2' painted by Glenn Ligon

They include pieces by seven black artists. A vertical piece selected by the Obamas was "Black like me N02," a riff on a 1961 book by white journalist John Howard Griffin who darkened his skin and then wrote about his experience as a "black" man in the racially segregated US south.
This image provided by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden shows 'Black Like Me #2' painted by Glenn Ligon in 1992. The work, a paint stick and acrylic gesso on canvas, is on loan from the museum to the White House of President Barack Obama, where it is currently on display. (AP)

'Butterfy' by Susan Rothenberg

"Harlem Renaissance" painter William Johnson is favored with four pieces, while Alma Thomas, a top African-American woman artist, is represented on the abstract painting front.
This handout image courtesy of The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC shows 'Butterfy' by Susan Rothenberg (1976 acrylic on canvas 176.5 x 210.8 cm (69 1/2 x 83 in.). (AFP Photo)

Richard Diebenkorn's 1955 painting, Berkeley No. 52

In addition, many earthenware pieces and other works by Native Americans were chosen. On the more classical side, there is a melancholic "Sunset" by Winslow Homer and two bronze dancers by Degas. Abstract artists like Mark Rothko, and Josef Albers, and conceptual stars like Edward Corbett and Jasper Johns also made the White House grade.
This image provided by the National Gallery of Art shows Richard Diebenkorn's 1955 painting, Berkeley No. 52. The work is on loan from the gallery to the White House of President Barack Obama, where it is currently on display. (AP)

George Catlin's painting

From across the Atlantic, there are still life by Italian painter Giorgio Morandi and a depiction of Nice by Nicolas de Stael. The pottery is headed for the Oval Office along with a glassed-in original model of Samuel Morse's telegraph.
This image provided by the Smithsonian Institution's National Gallery of Art shows American artist George Catlin's painting, Catlin and Indian Attacking Buffalo, 1861/1869, oil on card mounted on paperboard. (AP Photo)

Ed Ruscha's 1983 oil on canvas painting

William Allman, the White House curator, told The Washington Post that the Obamas' picks express "probably more interest in truly modern art".
This image provided by the Smithsonian Institution's National Gallery of Art shows Ed Ruscha's 1983 oil on canvas painting, 'I' think I'll...'. The work is on loan from the gallery to the White House. (AP)