A NEWLY DECORATED OVAL OFFICE FOR PRESIDENT BIDEN
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) The newly decorated Oval Office of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will focus "around a massive portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt" which now hangs above the fireplace.
The FDR portrait is flanked by portraits of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. In front of the fireplace are the traditional chairs and tables with lamps along with two sofas facing inward.
While, the new president has retained the Resolute Desk and gold curtains used by Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, he will be using the dark blue presidential seal rug that President Clinton originally used.
Behind the Resolute is a table bearing a sculpture of Cesar Chavez along with framed photos of the Biden family. The flags of the United States and the President of the United States flank a window behind.
Other paintings in the Oval include a portrait of Benjamin Franklin and the work of Frederick Childe Hassam* titled "The Avenue in the Rain." The latter hung in the family quarters bedroom of President John F. Kennedy.
The new Oval Office also displays busts of Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt and Daniel Webster. There is also a sculpture of a horse and rider by Allan Houser of the Chiricahua Apache tribe.
President Biden did not retain the portrait of Andrew Jackson which President Trump had prominently displayed on the wall behind the Resolute Desk.
SOURCES
"A look inside Biden's Oval Office," by Annie Linskey, Politics, January 21, 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/
"Treasures of the White House: The Avenue in the Rain," The White House Historical Association, www.whitehousehistory.org/
*Frederick Childe Hassam (1859-1935) was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts. FCH was instrumental in promoting impressionism to American collectors, dealers and museums. He produced more than 3000 works in his career including paintings, oils & watercolors.
