Obama portraits and the national portrait gallery

1,446 Views | 2 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by tmaggies
huisachel
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I have only been in that museum once and spent the better part of a day.

On seeing the President and his wife alongside their portraits it struck me that they were much larger than the ones I recalled seeing on my visit. The LBJ portrait was the famous one by Hurd that he did not like and it was much smaller than these. I recall the portrait of Eisenhower, one of my favorite presidents, was much more modest.

I would like to say that the size of the portraits just unveiled reflect the grandiosity of the artists and perhaps of the subjects but hesitate to say so.

Has anyone else who has been to the national portrait gallery have an opinion on the subject?
OldArmy71
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AG
I like art, including modern art. As works of art, I have no problem with these portraits at all.

But the artist who did Obama's fails completely to understand the purpose of this particular assignment. The background is a garish color and repeats like wallpaper. The hidden semen jokes are inappropriate in this context. There is a jarring disconnect between Obama dressed rather formally and the jungle background that he seems to be floating in, alienated from his surroundings as even many of his supporters have always described him--aloof and unconcerned.

If I didn't know better, I would say that the Republican National Committee financed this painting. It's hard to imagine one of his worst enemies creating a less flattering public portrait to represent his time in office.

I can't imagine for the life of me what Obama was thinking when he chose this guy, and I seriously doubt that he's happy with the image--and I can almost guarantee that Michelle loathes it.
dcbowers
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AG
Obama can choose whoever he wants to paint his picture. However, I can't look at his picture without being reminded of other work by the same artist.



https://twitter.com/LevineJonathan/status/963139190438457346/photo/2

Not really the kind of artist you'd expect a Nobel Peace Prize winner to select.
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tmaggies
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AG
Sounds like the portrait fits Osama Obama perfectly.
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