Posted on 04/14/2014 12:09:15 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The greatest work of art George W. Bush ever took part in was in 2008, when an Iraqi journalist threw two shoes at his head. “This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog,” screamed the journalist, Muntadhar al-Zaidi, who had been arrested twice by U.S. forces during the occupation.
Bush dodged the shoes with the same ease with which he’d had dodged consequences all his life; those for drunk driving, for ruined companies, stolen elections, war crimes, the destruction of Zaidi’s country.
After he dodged the shoes, Bush joked about free countries. Meanwhile, guards beat Zaidi bloody. Police tortured him during the nine months he served in jail.
Bush’s first art exhibition, “The Art of Leadership: A President’s Personal Diplomacy,” lacks the apt metaphor of Zaidi’s shoe throw. Bush’s 30 oil-on-board portraits of world leaders will hang at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas through June 3. As artifact, they’re fascinating, even if as art they’re not.
We first got a glimpse at Bush’s paintings in 2013, when a hacker leaked an early batch online. Two nudes went viral—Bush’s feet in the bath and Bush’s back in the shower. What was up with all that bathing imagery? Was he trying to wash out that damn spot? Presidential flesh is still a rarity, even though Bush was renowned for giving unwanted massages, choking on pretzels and wiping his sweaty hands on Bill Clinton’s shirt. But those nudes, unlike the latest paintings of world leaders, were not meant for public consumption. Bush’s exhibition is for posterity. A gift from him to us.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
That would be Tony Blair.
Was wondering where the barf alert was
The second paragraph told me all I ned to know about the author.
BDS in full bloom.
That was LBJ's specialty. Read the Robert Caro biography and shake your head. So much pain could have been avoided if he had followed the law instead of highjacking his way into the White House. Had the Vietnam War been handled by the military instead of LBJ's Congress and the media, we might not be fighting insane emboldened islamists today. And don't get me started on the Great Society. Just look around you at the results of that.
Bush is actually pretty good at painting, even realist portrait type painting when he wants to.
However, the paintings of other world leaders are very impressionistic in nature and are fascinating in the way they capture the impression of the character of the individual Bush is painting from Bush's rather unique perspective.
His Putin is so spot on it's uncanny, as are many of the others - especially the Jay Leno paining which really seems to capture the essence of what Leno is all about.
I was once told by a very talented artist that the goal of art is not to necessarily to produce a work product that is a thing of beauty. Instead, the talent of the very best and truest artist to to evoke a response, particularly if that response is the response the artist intended.
Under this definition, I think it is safe to say President Bush's ability to distill his perceptions of a particular individual he has met or worked with on the world stage and then convey that perception of that person via the medium of an impressionistic painting rates Bush a true and remarkably talented artist
A rotten child with more mouth than sense.
The paintings are powerfully evocative. They express passionate insight. By any professional standard they are remarkable pieces of artistic expression.
She has a Morticia Addams/Carolyn Jones thing going on there.
If one of us wrote something along these lines about El-Presidente we’d be accused of hate speech.
I could be wrong but I think that CRABAPPLE maybe, just possibly doesn’t like Presdent Bush.
She looks like a jerk.
Just my opinion.
“former burlesque dancer”
You don't say.
Stolen elections? I thought Democrats didn’t believe such vote fraud could occur.
Gomez: “Tish...that’s French”!! Morticia: “Now now Gomez...”
Blair?
RE: Tony Blair
Well, it looks like Dubya isn’t such a bad painter after all... He might not be Van Gogh but he sure can paint portraits such that people KNOW who he’s painting without having to think hard.
That’s better than say, Picasso.... :)
Thought the same thing and his style does remind me of Van Gogh. I really don't know what is considered art, I just know what I like. I could even like the right Jackson Pollack hung in the right room but sure as hell wouldn't pay what it would cost.
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