"And we are told we're divided as a people, and then suddenly the arts have this power to bring us together and speak to our common condition," remarked President Obama at the 2012 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal ceremony.

A pair of portraits of former President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura were installed this year in Obama's White House. Besides a bevy of de rigueur presidential portraits, Obama gets to look at his own choices in art by borrowing his favorites from the holdings of the National Gallery.

From George Catlin to Ed Ruscha, the trove of art assembled by Obama is sampled in a slideshow on L Magazine.

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