First Lady Jill Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton celebrated the 2023 Praemium Imperiale Laureates in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. In honor of the event, they arrived wearing contrasting looks.
Biden wore a white Schiaparelli skirt suit with gold statement buttons with a round neckline. She accessorized the ensemble with gold jewelry.
Clinton wore a top and trousers, with a statement purple multicolored floral brocade jacket made from blue-sapphire satin, known as the Forbidden Forest jacket, by Mi Jong Lee. The jacket featured a classic notch collar and a simple open front. She accessorized with colorful gemstone necklaces and gold bracelets.
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The Praemium Imperiale is a global arts prize awarded annually by the Japan Art Association for lifetime achievement in the arts. The event was first celebrated at the White House by former President Bill Clinton in 1994.
Wynton Marsalis, Vija Celmins and theater director Robert Wilson were the honorees at the Tuesday ceremony. Sculptor Olafur Eliasson and architect Diébédo Francis Kéré were absent. All five will be honored at a ceremony in Tokyo next month.
“I just finished my classes and quickly rushed back to the White House and changed my clothes for this event,” Biden said during the ceremony. “But art stops us in our tracks. It feeds our spirit when we’re hungry for something more. It shows the contours of our sorrows and our joys, so that we know that we’re not alone. It brings us back to the beauty and humanity of every moment. Art matters.”
Hillary Clinton, who recently went back to teaching as a professor at Columbia University, was welcomed with applause at the White House and commended Biden for juggling her duties as first lady and a professor. “I’ve gone back to teaching recently, after 50 years, and I can attest it’s a hard enough job without being first lady. But nothing could keep Dr. Biden from her students,” Clinton said.