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Official White House Portraits!
Simmie Knox
American painter (born 1935)
Simmie Knox | |
|---|---|
Knox in 2025 | |
| Born | Simmie Lee Knox (1935-08-18) August 18, 1935 (age 89) Aliceville, Alabama |
| Occupation | painter |
| Known for | portraits of Bill and Hillary Clinton |
| Children | 3 |
Simmie Lee Knox[1] (born August 18, 1935)[2] is an American painter who painted the official White House portrait of former United States PresidentBill Clinton and First LadyHillary Clinton.
He was the first black American artist to receive a presidential portrait commission.[3][4]
Early life
[edit]Simmie Knox was born on August 18, 1935, in Aliceville, Alabama, to Simmie Knox Sr., a carpenter and mechanic, and Amelia Knox.[5] At a young age Simmie's parents divorced and he was sent to live on his aunt and uncle's sharecropper farm with his eight cousins in Leroy, Alabama.
At age 13 he was hit in the eye by a baseball while playing a game, and it was suggested