WHO KNEW?
Greatest Living President
is Also Fantastic Painter
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| "George W. Bush in the Bathtub" by George W. Bush |
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| "George W. Bush in the Shower" by George W. Bush |
February 8, 2013 12:23 pm
The illegal hacking of Bush family email accounts had an unanticipated consequence, The Smoking Gun reports:
“The hacker also intercepted photos that George W. Bush e-mailed two months ago to his sister showing paintings that he was working on, including self-portraits of him showering and in a bathtub. Another image shows the former president painting at the family’s Maine retreat. His subject is St. Ann’s Episcopal Church, a historic seaside chapel down the road from the sprawling Kennebunkport compound.”
The paintings demonstrate a command of line and color that is rarely seen in the modern-day “art” world. Former President George W. Bush appears to be influenced by such painters as Edgar Degas and Edouard Manet. The portraits also clearly capture the personality of their subject.
Vincent van Gogh immediately came to my mind when I saw his work.
ReplyDeleteI like it!
His subdued palette clearly reflects Caravaggio though he hasn't learned to be as expressive.
ReplyDeleteThe subject matter leaves a bit to be desired. ;)
ReplyDeleteAll Narcissus needs is an Echo.
ReplyDeleteClearly, Dubya could give this guy a lesson or two.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete"Clearly, Dubya could give this guy a lesson or two."
ReplyDeleteJust as you doubtless might benefit from tutelage by Gaston Lachaise or Brancusi -- and I by Paul Hindemith or Benjamin Britten. ;-)
Aren't you astounded that dear old Dubya paints AT ALL?
I certainly was.
"His subdued palette clearly reflects Caravaggio though he hasn't learned to be as expressive."
ReplyDeleteA most interesting comparison, Ducky!
I have to admit there IS a certain integrity to what she's done, AND it has the virtue of simplicity.
None of us were "supposed" to know anything about Dubya's artistic endeavors, FJ. These pictures came to us via an apparent HACKING, ergo, I doubt there's a whole lot of vanity involved.
ReplyDeleteIf you say so, Pygmalion.
ReplyDeleteBonnard !
ReplyDeleteShaw nailed it.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteMr. Free Thinke, do you have a blog email?
ReplyDeleteYes, I do, Ms. Shaw.
ReplyDeleteI never use it, but you're welcome to try to reach me at FreeThinke@gmail.com.
Currently there are hundreds and hundreds of "Anonymous comments piled up at that address. I suppose I ought to attend to them.
I look forward to hearing from YOU very soon.
~ FreeThinke
I think it's fantastic that he paints. It doesn't surprise me though.
ReplyDeleteFJ, we paint, write, photo, draw what we know. So? :-)
He's good. At least the bathtub picture is good. The shower picture isn't as good. I think he's attracted to the visual effects of water, steam, how his legs disappear and then re-emerge etc. Nothing wrong with that. Subject is never the most important thing in art anyway.
ReplyDeleteFT,
ReplyDeleteI delete hundreds of spam comments from my email account every day. I have learned to delete them en masse by clicking the box next to each spam email, then hitting the delete icon at the top of the screen.
They look pretty good to me . A lot better than some of the work that I've seen in some art galleries.
ReplyDeleteFJ, we paint, write, photo, draw what we know. So?
ReplyDeleteSo... nothing. Perhaps if we were to be informed that he has painted landscapes, or other subjects, my opinion would not be so harsh. But if 100% of his known works are self-portraits and autobiographical...
And Sir Winston Churchill was a wonderful painter... but his "subjects" were many and varied.
Certainly true that about Sir Winston. I visited Chartwell in 1981 and consequently the studio where many of his canvases hang.
ReplyDeleteI remember being tremendously impressed by the high quality and great scope of Churchill's work.
I'm sure if I had seen these same pictures in a gallery signed with another name, I would have been just as favorably impressed.
Churchill was also an amateur bricklayer. His efforts in that direction are far less successful than his paintings.
Chartwell, itself, is a beautiful home -- and it IS a home not a palace. I loved being there. That visit remains a continuing source of inspiration and a good influence on my own domestic surroundings.
I will say that for self portraits, the subject matter is very self depracating... as if to say, "I'm just a regular guy".
ReplyDeleteBut I don't believe that he should have to think of himself as such or believe that others would want to think of him as such. He has done extraordinary things. He should be appreciated for being "more" than just an average shmuck.
I'm not saying that he should "put on airs", as Obama does. But he is worthy of a little more "respect" than a painting of his legs in a bath tub offer.
George W. Bush's artistic talent takes a distant second place to his brilliant insight into the American economy : "this sucker could fall".
ReplyDeleteThat's after about 8 years of his "conservative" leadership and the first phase of "saving the economy" with Henry Paulson was near at hand.
I remember being tremendously impressed by the high quality and great scope of Churchill's work.
ReplyDelete----
Stick to music.
He was a competent Sunday painter.
Just as you are a competent Sunday photographer, duckman.
ReplyDeleteJust don't quit your day job. ..
Oh wait, its' film! ;)
To Our Dear Canardo
ReplyDeleteGrating on our nerves with irksome quacking
Offered in a bilious spirit vile
Find better occupation than this hacking.
Use your time for something more worthwhile.
Could you for once relent, and quit your jeering?
Kindergarten kids show better manners.
Your comments sound too often like Bronx cheering.
Oh why must you into our works throw spanners --
Using childish taunts and gibes and sneers?
Regale us please, instead, with something merry.
Surprise us after all these noisome years.
Entertain -- enlighten -- serve some Sherry --
Let your mind subject itself to scouring
Filth away that keeps you dark and glowering.
Love,
FT
FT,
ReplyDeleteLOL to that acrostic!