Former President Bush pays tribute to immigrants in new book

AP ^ | Aug 6 2020 | HILLEL ITALIE

[rintintin]

NEW YORK (AP) — A new book by former President George W. Bush will highlight an issue which now sets him apart from many of his fellow Republicans — immigration.

Crown announced Thursday that Bush’s “Out Of Many, One: Portraits of America’s Immigrants” will be published March 2. The book includes 43 portraits by the 43rd president, four-color paintings of immigrants he has come to know over the years, along with biographical essays he wrote about each of them.

Bush, who served as president from 2001-2009, has often praised the contributions of immigrants, a notable contrast to President Donald Trump’s rhetoric and policies. As president, Bush supported a bipartisan immigration reform bill that narrowly failed to pass in 2007, with opposition coming from both liberals and conservatives.

[Impy]

Actually, muff cabbage would probably defend itself it was constantly attacked by the left, Georges Bush the Vichy cuck never did.

[Yardstick]

His paintings are pretty good for an amateur. I don’t think anyone is claiming he’s some kind of great fine artist. Bush himself would probably laugh out loud at a comparison with Hopper.

[Bob434]

meh to me they look too much like paint by numbers- seriously- I don’t mind amateurish works, but bush’s seem to have that paint by numbers look and feel to them- other than that- like i said- they do grow on a person- they aren’t horrible- but they do show a real lack of expertise- in several areas- color, composition, anatomy, shading, tones, light. etc

He does have some qualities in his work that are reminiscent of hopper, slightly-

[Richard Kimball]

His paintings are pretty good for an amateur. I don’t think anyone is claiming he’s some kind of great fine artist. Bush himself would probably laugh out loud at a comparison with Hopper.

When you put out a coffee table book for $250, you get evaluated as a professional, not an amateur. If he were submitting his paintings to the local county fair, he wouldn't win a ribbon, and they give about half the paintings a ribbon.

Here's a link to another artist's work (deviant art, so link only, portrait of young girl):

https://www.deviantart.com/dora-alis/art/Prosperity-Portrait-4-849075874

As a person who was an art major, I've spent the last forty years watching crap paintings get promoted while incredibly talented people labor in obscurity, so I'm a little touchy about the subject.

[Yardstick]

I hear what you’re saying, but even with this fancy book I don’t think he’s putting himself out there as a fine artist. He and everyone else knows that his paintings are only relevant because he was once POTUS, in my opinion.

[Bob434]

Just curious Why you linked to that artist? I find that kind of portrait kinda cartoonish looking- Sure, the artist has some skill- but the result just looks kinda like a cartoon almost- a semi-realistic looking one- a weird mix of hyperealism-like work along with more basic handling of paint that makes it kinda look semi-realistic cartoony looking (Check out the heavy use of lines in the eyes- they look too ‘Drawn’ to me- like a colored pencil drawing almost- lines such as those need to be more artistically suggeted by brushwork than outright drawn out like that in my opinion on what makes good artistic art- the results is that it makes the eye look separate from the eye socket- and not like a part of the eye as it should be) to me- Her work is too technical to be artistic- (Note, there are some artistic elements in the whole of the painting- but to me, the hyper-realism detracts from it- and while hyper-realism-like works are a technical achievement, i much prefer artistic genius over technical results)

I mean it’s far better than Bush’s work- but not a style i like (Not that my opinion is the end all be all-)- it’s almost like a kincaid painting- kinda like ‘eye candy’- the ‘hyperrealism-like’ aspect is a type of eye candy- it’s an art form in itself- but I much prefer more impressionist art expression through brushwork and use of light, and tones etc- let the paint do the expressing, not the hyperrealistic-like drawing-

I do like drawings, but artistically done ones- with flair and style- I don’t much care for hyperealism that doesn’t have much style-

If you haven’t seen this guy before, Check out this ‘Autistic Savant’ Stephen Witshire- He is kinda like a ‘human camera’, but he has a flair to his drawing that is pretty cool looking- all the detail is cool too- but I like the artistic flair he has in his drawings- Whether he consciously employs it or not, i dunno-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqKRfZHpYBs

[Richard Kimball]

I like the colors, the skin tones are particularly spot on. As a guy who's done portraits, I'm particularly enamored of someone who can catch a face, and you know that's exactly what the person looks like, and yeah, I'm a fan of hyper-realism.

Grew up reading comic books, and never made the distinction between fine art & other arts. I appreciate a patchwork quilt as much as a painting.

Wandering off here, but I used to be a huge fan of Richard Amsel, who was a movie poster artist and did practically every high profile movie in the late 70s-early 80s.

Then I realized he got the great likenesses by tracing photos. Check the way the pistol butt sticks out at an impossible angle because of tracing two photos. I'm a sucker, though, for art deco, old style, and decorative art, anyway.

Interesting that you brought up Kinkade, cause he was a guy that WAS really good, but sold out and got the money. Here's one of his early paintings.

He took what was a great natural talent, and as he sold out, started making his paintings completely out of frosting, rather than using his gift for lighting as a small part of his work.

[Bob434]

[[Wandering off here, but I used to be a huge fan of Richard Amsel, who was a movie poster artist and did practically every high profile movie in the late 70s-early 80s. ]]

Yep- good stuff there (Thanks for pointing that artist out- first I’ve heard of him)- More an illustrator style- a little bit in the style of Toulouse-Lautrec (and even some Degas pastels a little bit)- I don’t mind the tracing- as he does impart a very unique to him styling in the rest of the ‘painting/illustration’ process (Mainly his use of lines, curves, angles- kinda stylized- this style is where thick line becomes part of the art- in hyper-realism-like styles, it makes the person’s features look almost cartoonish, ruining, in my opinion, the hyper-realism look they were trying to achieve-)

[[I appreciate a patchwork quilt as much as a painting.]]

Yep me too- I really appreciate almost all forms of art- (Even acting when done very artistically, but not overacted- can’t stand that)

[[I’m a sucker, though, for art deco, old style, and decorative art, anyway.]]

Yep- me too- Really loved the works of Telouse Letrec- and anyone that worked in that kind of illustration style IF they were good enough to have a very distinctive trademark style of their own

[[ Interesting that you brought up Kinkade, cause he was a guy that WAS really good, but sold out and got the money. Here’s one of his early paintings. ]]

Absolutely agree- but he saw that the ‘real money’ was in creating cheaper paintings that people could afford to hang on their walls, and those folks weren’t true art appreciators, and just wanted eye catching, eye candy type paintings-

[[He took what was a great natural talent, and as he sold out, started making his paintings completely out of frosting, rather than using his gift for lighting as a small part of his work.]]

Sadly that is true- too many artists take this route- but really, for many, it’s either that or starve- so they take the cheap way out and leave their talent potential in the dust unfortunately-

[mbrfl]

No, there are many other reasons for legal immigration, some of them good, some of them bad. What matters is that the people be allowed to collectively decide the level of immigration that they would like, and not have their will subverted by politicians who are pursuing their own agenda. Increasing the labor supply doesn’t automatically reduce wages. It depends on the economic environment.

[central_va]

Increasing the labor supply doesn’t automatically reduce wages.

Wrong. Labor, like any other commodity, conforms to the laws of supply and demand.

The only reason for LEGAL immigration is to increase the labor supply and to reduce upward pressure on wages. This is an indisputable fact.