The George W. Bush Center began a new exhibit today of the former president’s portraits of world leaders. His artwork is being universally condemned by art critics.
“George W. Bush paints like a beginning college art major,” Mat Gleason of the Coagula Art Journal told CNN, “The haste in which these pictures appear to have been completed reveal an artist who wants to finish what he starts, pleased with delivering something good and pleasant instead of great and overwhelming. This is the kind of artist who will never make a masterpiece but will remain a favorite with his core audience.”
The center has titled the exhibit The Art of Leadership: A President’s Personal Diplomacy which, according to their website, “will explore the relationships that President George W. Bush forged with world leaders to shape international policy and advance American interests abroad.”
“My feeling about George W. Bush’s art is that it lacks any sort of conceptual depth or skill,” Evan Pricco of Juxtapoz Art and Culture Magazine wrote for CNN, “It appears to be the work of someone who is trying to establish himself as a creative, introspective artist, but lacks both the technical chops or even knowledge of painting to make it something more than a hobby that should happen between clearing brush on the ranch or eating breakfast.”
“I was inspired partially by Winston Churchill, who wrote a great essay called ‘Painting as a Pastime,”’ the former president told TODAY News. “I wanted to make sure the last chapters of my life are full, and painting, it turns out, would help occupy not only space, but kind of open my mind.”
The George W. Bush Center posted this video to accompany the exhibit:
“This sounds like a more comforting place for him than in the hot seat,” Michelle Edelman, founder and CEO of Traffic Creative Management, told CNN, “Why is he sharing this with the public? Is he looking for a gallery? Maybe he should talk to the big art dealers who are expert at inflating prices for art with little content.”
Image via TheBushCenter, YouTube