2009, The Washington Post WASHINGTON -- The White House on Tuesday released a list of 45 artworks that first lady Michelle Obama, working with curators from the White House and area museums, has selected for the private residence, the offices in the West Wing and East Wing. They are all loans, the White House said. The choices, which provide the first inkling of the Obamas' artistic taste, are not a survey of American or European art but concentrate mainly on artists who are well known and mainstream. In the residence, for example, are 11 pieces by George Catlin, the American 19th-century painter who specialized in Native American scenes. There are also three works by Josef Albers, the German-born American artist who fled Germany when Hitler closed down the Bauhaus art school; he went on to paint seminal 'square' abstractions that were hugely influential on American abstraction. Also acquired are four pieces by William H. Johnson, the 20th-century African American artist whose work ranged from vivid landscapes to scenes of ordinary people. In addition, the Oval Office is now home to a patent model of Samuel F. B. Morse's telegraph, on loan from the National Museum of American History, as well as several examples of Native American pottery. The inclusion of almost a dozen pieces by Catlin is sure to reopen the debate that always accompanies his work, namely whether it was a sincere homage to the Native American or a touristy view. In the lineup are also two sculptures from Edgar Degas, the Impressionist master, and Giorgio Morandi, a 20th-century Italian painter who specialized in still lifes. Most adventurous is the selection of a single work by the contemporary artist Glenn Ligon, whose art explores the topics of racial and sexual identity. His 'Black Like Me #2,' borrowed from the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, will hang in the private residence. The Obama White House has borrowed several leaders of post World War II schools, including 'Numerals, 0 through 9' by Jasper Johns, 'Model for `Sky Covenant' ' by Louise Nevelson, 'Red Band' by Mark Rothko, and 'I Think I'll ...' by Edward Ruscha -- all from the National Gallery of Art. The National Gallery also lent work by Richard Diebenkorn, Sam Francis and Winslow Homer. The Rothko piece, as well as the Sam Francis, represent the abstract expressionist movement. Ruscha and Diebenkorn represent the importance of the West Coast in contemporary art. Nevelson is a major sculptor of the 1960s and 1970s whose work was neglected for years but is experiencing a resurgence in popularity. The list also contains two works by Alma Thomas, an African American artist who lived in Washington and concentrated on abstraction at a time when the black art movement was mainly focused on political and representational work. Thomas's 'Sky Light,' from the Hirshhorn, now hangs in the residence. Although there are museums devoted to the lives of the presidents, the Obama White House only selected one image of a former chief executive: Harry S. Truman, a portrait by Frank O. Salisbury, borrowed from the Truman Library. It is now hanging in the Cabinet Room. Staff writer Blake Gopnik contributed to this report. 