First Ladies (US)

January 11, 2024

The Silent Glamour of Melania Trump’s Mother, Amalija Knavs

In public, Amalija Knavs did not adhere to the stereotypes of an American grandmother. Throughout the Trump presidency, Amalija Knavs — mother to first lady Melania […]
November 28, 2023

Melania Trump and Other Living First Ladies Pay Tribute to Rosalynn Carter

Melania Trump and Michelle Obama were seated side by side. In any other circumstance it would have been a shocking sight. But it was only fitting […]
November 14, 2023

Lady Bird Johnson Documentary Presents a First Lady in Her Own Words

“The Lady Bird Diaries” depicts the former first lady as a mass of contradictions. Lady Bird Johnson embodied contradiction, cloaking her gravitas in Southern charm. Even […]
November 14, 2023

Listening to Lady Bird Johnson, in Her Own Words

“The Lady Bird Diaries” depicts the former first lady as a mass of contradictions. Lady Bird Johnson embodied contradiction, cloaking her gravitas in Southern charm. Even […]
September 7, 2022

Painting Michelle Obama Took 9 Months. Keeping it Secret Took 6 Years.

Susan Sprung, an instructor at the Art Students League of New York, is a realist painter of the old school. When Sharon Sprung was chosen to […]
April 20, 2022

Fashioning ‘The First Lady’

The new Showtime series on Michelle Obama, Betty Ford and Eleanor Roosevelt makes the connection between substance and style. It is a coincidence, but a telling […]
November 30, 2021

Jill Biden’s White House Christmas Display Looks Very … Normal

You won’t find any blood-red trees this year. Gone are the blood-red trees. Gone are the icy, sparkling boughs and the imagery of a woman isolated […]
January 16, 2021

A Visual History of the Trump Administration

Credit…Oliver Contreras for The New York Times Critic’s Notebook A Farewell to the Trump Aesthetic Four years of hard-core branding, soap opera chic and designer trolling […]
August 26, 2020

Melania Trump, Dressed for Battle. But Which One?

On the second night of the Republican National Convention, Melania Trump came dressed for battle. She strode alone down the white-pillared colonnade of the White House […]
December 2, 2019

‘Free, Melania’: 6 Takeaways

Where the first lady, Melania Trump, is concerned, theories abound. From morning-show hosts to Twitter pundits to protest poster artists, everyone has an opinion: Mrs. Trump […]