Off the Wall: White House Changes Mind About Painting (FReeper Victory!)

The New York Times ^ | Wednesday, November 4, 2009 | Randy Kennedy

[kristinn]

.SNIP

ARTnews has reported that the White House has quietly de-listed a painting by Alma W. Thomas that it chose last month, among some 45 pieces borrowed from several Washington museums, to decorate the private White House residence and the West and East Wings.

Titled, “Watusi (Hard Edge)” from 1963, the work takes a Matisse collage and, as Holland Cotter wrote in The New York Times, praising the selection, “shifts the pieces around, cools the colors down, and adds a title that refers to a Chubby Checker song.”

“But through copying Matisse,” Mr. Cotter added, “she began to work out a format she would use again and again.”

Some conservative Web sites, like Freerepublic.com, had criticized the painting as a fraud, calling it a “re-colored reprint” and questioning the wisdom of hanging it in the White House. By late October, the painting, which had been destined for the East Wing, had been removed from the list of works bound for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, ARTnews reported, though a second Thomas painting from 1973 remains on the list. The Hirshhorn Museum, which owns the painting, confirmed that the 1963 work had been sent back, but no one involved with the White House loans at the museum would say why, the publication said.

Semonti Stephens, the deputy press secretary for Mrs. Obama, said that the painting had been intended to go in the first lady’s office and that the the decision not to put it there was made only because its dimensions did not work in the space in which it was to hang.

[Teflonic]

You’re missing the most important requirement: a cadre of snooty liberals to endore your work as art.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

I don’t think this is such a big deal. The earlier thread found quotes from the “artiste” that stated the “painting” was a merely study of Matisse’s work. So, actually, there was no fraudulent intent. But,,,, the thing is a piece of cr@p, and so is the work by Matisse!

[celtic gal]

why doesn’t Michellemabelle just hang a pegboard with all those boob belts?

[GeronL]

Do you think “Green Bedroom Wall” is pretensious enough?

[Oshkalaboomboom]

bfl

[Tunehead54]

Here's my comparison from back then. The Matisse is on the left - the "copy was only rotated and re-sized to match. There are differences - its not an exact copy - but I now understand that if its termed "appropriation" instead of "plagiarism" then its ok. ;-)

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[ducks1944]

Can’t wait till Christmas for HQ TV to show case Whitehouse Christmas. Should be real interesting and fun for all.

[Indy Pendance]

How about ‘teenage daughter’s green bedroom wall’? (She’s an Iraqi Vet now, but we’ll have to cover that up) That’ll float their boat.

[ducks1944]

Can’t wait till Christmas for HQ TV to show case Whitehouse Christmas. Should be real interesting and fun for all.

[usmcobra]

The only reason it isn’t a forgery is that Matisse’s signature isn’t on it.

[Ann Archy]

They look NOTHING alike!!! sarc/

[ErnBatavia]

Yer gonna get Joe-the-Plumbered.....hell, now so will I just for posting in your direction.

Good work...

[Indy Pendance]

I’ll bet condoms on the tree are banned, bad press you know.

[Brown Deer]

Really?

[SunkenCiv]

Some conservative Web sites, like Freerepublic.com, had criticized the painting as a fraud, calling it a "re-colored reprint" and questioning the wisdom of hanging it in the White House... Semonti Stephens, the deputy press secretary for Mrs. Obama, said that the painting had been intended to go in the first lady's office and that the the decision not to put it there was made only because its dimensions did not work in the space in which it was to hang.

[guitarplayer1953]

first lady said that the painting made her butt look big because the large painting was smaller than her butt. /s

[patriciaruth]

Thanks for posting the original. Funny, but I like it and don’t like the repainted one. The colors are better, the painting skill sharper/surer.

[rabidralph]

FR: On the leading edge of Art (fraudulent painting), Letters (RatherGate) and Science (Space Shuttle Columbia).

[Atlas Sneezed]

Thanks for posting the original. Funny, but I like it and don’t like the repainted one. The colors are better, the painting skill sharper/surer.

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I agree, but bear in mind that the original is a 10-foot tall collage pf pasted paper squares, not a small painting.

[nina0113]

That particular Matisse is representative of the art he produced at the end of his life. I’ve forgotten what physical condition forced him to go from painting to arranging pieces of colored paper.

My grandmother, who used to knit beautiful and intricate sweaters, was still knitting on oversized needles at the end of her life, several years after she had gone blind. I have her last knitting, still on those inch-thick needles, saved in a bag. It’s not up to the standard of her earlier work by a long shot, but it made her happy to keep doing it. I’m guessing Matisse felt the same way.