Shepard Fairey's Obama Poster goes to Washington

The National Portrait Gallery has acquired the original collage created by Shepard Fairey, whose studio and advertising agency are located in Echo Park. The artwork that became the defining image of Obama’s presidential campaign will be on view at the museum only a few blocks from the White House in time for Inauguration day.

“This is the original collage that the prints and campaign materials were based on,” museum spokeswoman Bethany Bentley said in an email.

The gallery purchased the five-foot-tall collage through the Irvine Gallery in Washington with a donation from Washington D.C. art collectors Heather and Tony Podesta, a big player in Washington politics and the brother of John Podesta, who heads the Obama transition team. The museum would not disclose the price. More details in a museum press release.

Image: National Portrait Gallery