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Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who served during the Obama administration, watched Tuesday as her official portrait was unveiled at the State Department, calling it an "incredibly emotional moment." "Looking out and seeing so many of you whom I was privileged to serve over my four years," Clinton said before the portrait, painted by Steven Polson, was unveiled. "Now, 14 years ago, hard to believe, I knew there was something very special about this place and that having the singular honor of leading the State Department and USA ID would be an incredible, both personal...

Unveiling of an early 17th-century painting has caused a stir—but what does the evidence say?The unveiling and proposed £10m sale of an early 17th century portrait, reputedly of William Shakespeare, has caused a stir. The attribution is being debated, but what does the evidence show? The inner frame of the 20 x 18 inch portrait includes the title Shakespeare, but this is an 18th- or19th-century addition, when the painting was relined. The figure portrayed is a bearded, balding man in shirt and doublet, with the top left and right of the canvas helpfully inscribed 1608 and AE (aged) 44...

Former first lady Michelle Obama indicated Wednesday that as a black woman, she was never meant to serve as first lady of the United States of America. “A girl like me, she was never supposed to be up there next to Jaqueline Kennedy and Dolly Madison,” she said. “She was never supposed to live in this house and she definitely wasn’t supposed to serve as first lady.” The former first lady spoke as she joined her husband, President Barack Obama, to unveil their official portraits at the White House on Wednesday. She said she often wondered about who was responsible...

The removal of a portrait of Winston Churchill from the New Zealand parliament building has sparked fury with opposition leader Judith Collins saying she was “disgusted” by the move – but prime minister Jacinda Ardern insisted she “didn’t care”. Collins, who leads the National Party in New Zealand tweeted an image of Britain’s wartime leader being pulled from its position, reportedly called for by the parliament’s Art Committee, chaired by Green MP Dr Elizabeth Kerekere. “Sir Winston Churchill, the greatest anti-fascist leader of the 20th century is removed from the walls of Parliament because the Greens don’t like him,” tweeted...

The portrait of Emmanuel Macron was trampled before being torn and then thrown out the window on Saturday in #Poitiers where the demonstrators invaded the Town Hall https://twitter.com/AnonymeCitoyen/status/1419660390624018432

The National Portrait Gallery reopened with an addition to its famed exhibition of presidential portraits. Joining the likes of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, was Donald Trump, scowling from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. Trump looks “pallid and grim” in the photograph, said Paul Staiti, expert on presidential portraits who teaches at Mount Holyoke College. Trump was impeached twice. His refusal to concede the election of Nov. 3, 2020, led a mob of his supporters to storm and vandalize the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. The Trump photograph is displayed across the room from a portrait of...

Ruth Bader Ginsburg tampon portrait at Hotel Zena (Instagram screenshot @HotelZena) A new hotel on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., apparently hopes to somehow turn a profit by catering to embittered third-wave feminists and the self-hating men who enable their fits and endure their incessant complaining. According to a press release, Hotel Zena, which opened on October 8, offers “a bold new cultural hub celebrating the accomplishments of women and recognizing their enduring struggle for gender equality.”The “thoughtfully designed and curated” hotel exists “to send a message of female empowerment.” The artwork in the building works to “create a message...

The traditional White House portrait unveiling may be skipped for the first time in decades amid bad blood between Trump and Obama. WASHINGTON — It’s been a White House tradition for decades: A first-term president hosts a ceremony in the East Room for the unveiling of the official portrait of his immediate predecessor that will hang in the halls of the White House for posterity. Republican presidents have done it for Democratic presidents, and vice versa — even when one of them ascended to the White House by defeating or sharply criticizing the other. “We may have our differences politically,”...

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) during his press briefing on Wednesday revealed a collage of face masks that people from all over the country have sent to his office amid the coronavirus pandemic. "This is a self-portrait of America," Cuomo said pointing to the wall of masks. "You what know it spells? It spells love." The governor, who has gained national attention for his nearly-daily press briefings on the pandemic, said his office has received thousands of masks and personal notes from people across the country as a show of support. The Empire State has been the state hardest...

Today’s Campaign Update, Part II (Because The Campaign Never Ends) What, you expected anything else after all this time? Courtesy of the UK Daily Mail: The color of the dress seemed to be a pointed reference to Clinton's former intern Monica Lewinsky who a blue dress during their infamous sexual encounter in the White House. The painting seemed to show Clinton in the Oval Office, with the presidential seal on display You just cannot make this stuff up, folks. From the article linked above: Jeffrey Epstein had a bizarre portrait which appears to be of Bill Clinton hanging in his...

Was the presidential portrait of Barack Obama made in China? Sources say artist Kehinde Wiley — who painted the former president before a background of greenery and flowers — has studios in China and produces most of his work there. “It’s his base of operation,” said art critic Charlie Finch, who has known Wiley and appreciated his talent since they were students at Yale. “He has dozens of assistants working for him.” While Obama sat for Wiley for several hours, the portrait may have been sent to China to be completed. “Normally, Wiley sketches out the important parts, and assistants...

Full title of article: A Racist Con-Man: Obama’s Portrait Artist, Who Hires Cheap Chinese Labor To Paint “His” Work, Says “Kill Whitey” Is A Major Theme Since Obama’s portrait was unveiled, I’ve received a flurry of text messages from outraged artist friends I made while living in New York. No, they weren’t outraged because they saw Kehinde Wiley’s other painting that feature black women murdering white women. They were outraged because Kehinde Wiley is a terrible artist who only rose to prominence, something they have been attempting to do their entire lives, in the art world because he is a...

Sean Hannity and other right-wing conservatives are calling out President Barack Obama‘s presidential portrait, accusing the painting of having hidden perversion. In a blog post published on Tuesday and subsequently deleted, the Fox News anchor’s staff reports that “industry insiders” believe Kehinde Wiley secretly placed concealed images of sperm throughout his painting. “Controversy surrounding Kehinde Wiley’s wildly non-traditional portrait of the Commander-in-Chief broke out within minutes of its unveiling; with industry insiders claiming the artist secretly inserted his trademark technique -concealing images of sperm within his paintings,” the post reads. Hannity’s blog post also brings up comments Wiley made in...

I did a slight adjustment to Baracks new "portrait"....(or maybe, "POTrait") to make the "garden setting" a little more appropriate for him.

Can you imagine if Donald Trump’s official portrait artist painted white women holding the decapitated heads of African-American women? There would be social chaos. But as Americans we are supposed to sit back and applaud Obama’s artist for chopping off the heads of white women to be carried like a trophy by African-American women? Was this artist, Kehinde Wiley, paid with public tax monies to paint Obama’s portrait?

The National Portrait Gallery on Monday unveiled portraits of former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama — to a very mixed reception. Even though Barack Obama praised Baltimore-based artist Amy Sherald “for so spectacularly capturing the grace and beauty and intelligence and charm and hotness of the woman I love,” many critics on social media slammed the rendition of the former first lady. Their main question: Is that really her? […] For the portrait, the former first lady was painted in “grayscale” — a charcoal color with taupe undertones. She’s seated, with her hair falling around her shoulders,...

An official portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama was unveiled at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery Monday morning. The painting was done by Baltimore artist Amy Sherald, who is known for her social justice painting style.

Excavations in the mid-19th century uncovered much of Herculaneum, including its large “House of the Mosaic Atrium,” but an ancient painting in the house went almost unnoticed, until now. A newly developed portable macro X-ray fluorescence instrument, ELIO by XGLab SRL, revealed the Roman woman in the portrait that has been subjected to molten lava, volcanic ash, grime, salt, and humidity over the years. As if that weren’t rough treatment enough, its exposure since it was excavated 70 years ago has caused much of it to deteriorate. The portable X-ray instrument was brought directly to the site at Herculaneum, where...

We’ve often reported here on the efforts of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FRFF) to remove all vestiges of “religious” symbols in public places – and by religious, it’s really only the Christian religion they object to. Their actions extend to public schools, military facilities and public offices. Most recently, FFRFF has drawn a red line in the sand in Breathitt County, Kentucky. Jesus must go. For some time, the FRFF has been trying to get a picture of Jesus removed from the courthouse. There’s just one little problem. FRFF can’t find anyone in Breathitt County to act as their...

The White House released First Lady Melania Trump's official portrait on Monday. The photograph of Melania is set in the White House with her arms folded as she looks into the camera. It appears on the first lady's official profile on the White House website adjacent to her biography