COMMISSIONS /
BO
PRIVATE COMMISSION - 2021
Bo
Portrait of a Presidential Dog
SUBJECT
MEDIUM
SCALE
LOCATION
COMMISSIONED BY
PRESENTED TO
Bo, the Obama family dog
Bronze
Life-Size head portrait
Private Residence
Ambassador James Costos and Michael S. Smith
The Obama Family
Thank you so much for the amazing Bo sculpture. It has meant so much for our family.
-President Barack Obama
Bo joined the Obamas in 2009, a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy, and spent the family's eight years in the White House as about as public a dog as a dog can be. He was, by every account, genuinely central to that household - President Obama described him afterwards as a true friend and a loyal companion.
He died in May 2021. The commission came soon after, from Ambassador James Costos and Michael S. Smith: a life-size head portrait, to be presented to the President on his 60th birthday that August.
I liaised with the White House team to gather photographs of Bo, working alongside the breed references I'd already put together on Portuguese Water Dogs - skull shape, proportion, the way the coat sits and where the weight falls. The two sets of material did different jobs. The breed work gave me the underlying structure and the family photographs gave me Bo's character.
I built the piece up slowly, getting the anatomy settled before going near anything expressive. Character came last, and it came through two things above all: that distinctive coat, and his kind loyal eyes.
It was presented to the President on his birthday, with his family around him. It was an enormous honour to be asked.