These paintings are very good. Original author seems hung up on the fact that they are not realistic enough or technically refined. I would argue that they are technically refined. The thickness of the paint, texture, handling, the palette--they all suggest that Bush has given a lot of time to thinking about how to construct a painting and what a painting should say. The content is very ambitious. He's not painting a pretty landscape, or copying a photograph, or trying to be as realistic as possible--these are the goals of small-time, minor painters. Bush is a major painter.
I think people judging it for the sake of the art are missing the point. To me, the pieces scream of depression. His legs in a still bath? Staring in to a mirror in the shower?
What do you imagine life to be in the waning retirement years of the former president of the most powerful country on earth? What a jarring contrast it must be.
I agree. The art doesn't have to be good or hung in a gallery to be of value.
The paintings represent an new, and perhaps candid insight into the thoughts and feelings of a former president. They might reveal something we wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to observe. GWB may not even know what he's revealing about himself.
My take on the paintings is that they project a sense of loneliness, separation, and introspection.
I'm not sure I have a whole lot to add that you two haven't said, but the way his reflection in mirror is so far away from his actual head and the smallness of it... wow, he suddenly seems so human to me. I have chills.
I know he put on the tough front of "you can't regret anything and I'd invade again," but who can't look at this and think he's having second thoughts?
How can any president not spend their retirement reflecting on their decisions? Many decisions have a lot of collateral damage even if they are the right decisions.
I definitely see that. I also see him grappling with identity, likely the result of his years with (relatively) carefully managed presentation. In the mirror painting, we don't see the front of his body directly, only a limited reflection that he chooses to show us. And we're given a peek through is eyes in the bathtub, but with only limited parts of his body exposed from out of the water. It's like he's trying to express that there's more to him as a person than what we saw.
Since Nixon, all the presidents have been actors and nothing more. They realize this, and the malaise probably sets in at some time. GWB would have been a competent office manager. BHO would have been a good high school principal.
"What it means in practice is that we tend to spend free time consuming culture instead of making it. Instead of writing a story or attempting to paint something or learning a piece of music, we watch TV or go to a movie.
There’s nothing wrong with consuming culture, of course. But what are we losing if that time is never spent making things, and making them for their own sake?"
Beautifully said, and reminds me of this equally beautiful tweet by why_:
"when you don't create things, you become defined by your tastes rather than ability. your tastes only narrow & exclude people. so create."
It is pretty fascinating. For a man not particularly known for his humility in office, the paintings show a lot of vulnerability. I'm hoping this isn't a prank.
The Secret Service opened an investigation as a direct result of the paintings (and other things, like emails) coming into the open. Pretty sure is real.
I have to agree with you and disagree with the author, strictly in terms of artistic merit, Hitler's paintings are better than President Bush's... I'm just trying to figure out if there's some meta-violation of Godwin's Law going on here.
