NEW YORK TIMES: ….The world’s most distinctive gallery of international leaders opens in Dallas on Saturday, famous faces as seen through the eyes of the former president of the United States and noted amateur painter George W. Bush. Graduating from dogs and cats and landscapes, Mr. Bush has produced a collection of more than two dozen portraits of foreign figures he encountered while in office and put them on display at his presidential library.
The official debut of the artist known as W. peels back the curtain on the hobby that has consumed him, and intrigued many others, over the last couple of years. Although some of his early works, including vaguely unsettling self-portraits in the bath and shower, were posted on the Internet after his family’s email accounts were hacked, this is the first time the former president has staged an exhibit of his art. His choices are as revealing about the artist as the subjects…
Mr. Bush picked up painting two years ago after the Yale historian John Lewis Gaddis suggested he read an essay by Winston Churchill, “Painting as a Pastime.” After experimenting with an iPad sketch application, he began lessons with Gail Norfleet, a noted Dallas painter… (more)
EDITOR: The accompanying photos show some portraits that are very impressive. We are gratified that he has finally found something at which he is good.
