# The paintings of George W. Bush **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 9, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790 "2013-02-09T15:33:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/1 "2013-02-09T15:33:07Z")
A hacker recently broke into the email of Bush’s sister Dorothy, and among the files they stole, were some pictures of paintings by the former president. You can see the paintings here: > **[George W. Bush Is An Outsider Artist, Standing Apart From History, Naked](https://www.gawker.com/5982836/george-w-bush-is-an-outsider-artist-standing-apart-from-history-naked)** > > Now we've seen the art of George W. Bush, but have we really seen it? We asked arts blogger Greg Allen, of greg.org, to give the ex-president's works a close reading. These are actually kind of nice. He has sort of a David Hockney thing going. Granted, I couldn’t see these hanging in the Louvre, but I could see them going for a couple hundred dollars at a local art gallery, even if one didn’t know Bush painted them. So all you art critics on the SDMB, what do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/2 "2013-02-09T16:01:42Z")
Extremely amateur to my taste (as was to be expected), and no way they would sell for hundreds of bucks. In an ideal world that is. In a world where Thomas Kinkade has penetrated so many American homes, all bets are off. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/3 "2013-02-09T16:03:02Z")
Not terribly awful for an amateur. His painting of his dog is much better. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/4 "2013-02-09T16:04:32Z")
[Here’s Barney.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/files/2013/02/Barney.jpg) Not bad. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/5 "2013-02-09T16:18:47Z")
I don’t think they were painted with selling in mind, seeing as how they were only found by hacking a private email address. So it doesn’t seem fair to criticize based on that. And it’s certainly better brushwork than I could pull off. In my amateur opinion, I think he has a good eye for lighting and shadows, but his perspective needs work. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/6 "2013-02-09T16:24:02Z")
Gotta love that he signed the Barney one “43.” Comedy gold. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/7 "2013-02-09T16:24:35Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > [Here’s Barney.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/files/2013/02/Barney.jpg) > > Not bad. He signs his paintings “43”? _They’re givin’ you a number and takin’ 'way your name!_ ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/8 "2013-02-09T16:33:11Z")
Well, adding _savant_ to his current one word legacy can only be an improvement. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/9 "2013-02-09T16:34:18Z")
I’m hardly the last word on art, but I like the Barney painting and I kind of like the bathtub one, too. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/10 "2013-02-09T16:52:03Z")
I liked them. Did he just pick this up after his retirement? Seems pretty good for just four years of practice. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/11 "2013-02-09T17:05:25Z")
How’s it legal to post these online without his (or at least his sister’s) permission? This seems a major violation of privacy even for a former president. (I’m referring to the website, not the thread.) ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/12 "2013-02-09T17:20:20Z")
I like them; the composition is interesting and keeps me looking. I hope he sticks with it. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/13 "2013-02-09T18:44:35Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > How’s it legal to post these online without his (or at least his sister’s) permission? This seems a major violation of privacy even for a former president. (I’m referring to the website, not the thread.) I’m pretty sure it is not. Here is the arstechnica article on it: [Bush family privacy shattered after e-mails, photos exposed online](http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/02/bush-family-privacy-shattered-after-e-mails-photos-exposed-online/). The hack also exposed private emails regarding the health of the elder George Bush. I hope the perpetrators are caught and brought to book, since I absolutely agree that it is a major violation of their privacy. As some of the comments at the linked article state, it isn’t obvious what the hacker intended here. If the idea was to make the Bush family look bad, it has obviously failed. I feel very empathetic to a grieving family that has been violated such, and the paintings don’t scream “I’m an evil guy”, they’re somewhat … adorable. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/14 "2013-02-09T18:48:10Z")
That was weird–I had to go back to check my photos on my phone to make sure it wasn’t the same picture. When my mom was in the hospital in 2011, there was a picture hanging on the wall there that was almost identical to Bush’s bathtub pic. Same colors, very similar composition. I snapped a pic because I thought it was a weird thing to be hanging on a hospital wall. Not the same painting, but similar enough to make me notice. [Here’s the pic](http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/cc466/anathaemus/bathpic1.jpg). Is there some sub-school of art where people paint pictures of themselves in the bathtub using yellow backgrounds? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/15 "2013-02-09T19:29:20Z")
> [@Art\_Rock](#): > > Extremely amateur to my taste (as was to be expected), and no way they would sell for hundreds of bucks. In an ideal world that is. In a world where Thomas Kinkade has penetrated so many American homes, all bets are off. Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/16 "2013-02-09T21:02:15Z")
Regarding the paintings, I’m a starship doctor not an art critic, but I’ll say that while I doubt I’d buy them or even use them as a desktop background they’re a lot better than I could do. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/17 "2013-02-09T21:49:38Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > I don’t think they were painted with selling in mind, seeing as how they were only found by hacking a private email address. So it doesn’t seem fair to criticize based on that. And it’s certainly better brushwork than I could pull off. In my amateur opinion, I think he has a good eye for lighting and shadows, but his perspective needs work. Oh my God! The Truthers were wrong. 9-11 **was** done by bin Laden, and then the Bush cabal sowed seeds of conspiracy for the Truthers. All in a ploy to pass off an intentional leak as a “hack,” in an effort to sell paintings! It’s all obvious, sheeple! I’m not sure I would buy then regardless, but decent for someone with no training, but people with a fixed ideology wouldn’t care. It’s like Hitler, who was trained (not a Godwin!), yet his paintings are treated on the level with Cecilia Gimenez, because killing a bunch of people is not bad enough. Barney is pretty good. I don’t know about naked Bush. Perspective or something seems off of those. Of course, I would want to own any one of these, they’ve gotta be worth something some day! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/18 "2013-02-09T23:05:39Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > It’s like Hitler, who was trained (not a Godwin!), yet his paintings are treated on the level with Cecilia Gimenez, because killing a bunch of people is not bad enough. Hitler was trained? By whom? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/19 "2013-02-10T01:55:34Z")
I like them but they do lack perspective entirely. ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790/20 "2013-02-10T03:26:19Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > That was weird–I had to go back to check my photos on my phone to make sure it wasn’t the same picture. When my mom was in the hospital in 2011, there was a picture hanging on the wall there that was almost identical to Bush’s bathtub pic. Same colors, very similar composition. I snapped a pic because I thought it was a weird thing to be hanging on a hospital wall. Not the same painting, but similar enough to make me notice. [Here’s the pic](http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/cc466/anathaemus/bathpic1.jpg). > > Is there some sub-school of art where people paint pictures of themselves in the bathtub using yellow backgrounds? 😛 It’s kind of a common meme based around Frida Kahlo’s [What the Water Gave Me](http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/fa7/45c/fa745cdc-b23e-4e0e-ba3a-7e2ec6032f4c.large-profile.jpg). Mostly people just [use their phones](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3265/2880040425_701163cfc7_m.jpg). But there are [paintings out there](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HNAg1xvkZu4/TujumIkwGtI/AAAAAAAAD7M/y1ZiAG2F9MM/s1600/WhatFridaTaughtMe.jpg) as well. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-paintings-of-george-w-bush/649790.md?page=2)