George, Laura Bush official portraits unveiled

[The Mikado]

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[Kaine for Senate '18]

I like them.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

I thought this was his portrait.

[Joe Republic]

I'd have much preferred a joint portrait of George riding a giant globe and waving a cowboy hat in the air, while Laura stands to one side with her arms folded and an "Oh, George!" expression on her face.  Just standing there and holding on to some chairs isn't exactly stimulating to the senses.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Bad art.

[King]

Pulling up chairs is a bit of a lame prop.

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

I like them.

I agree. They both are well done.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I thought this was his portrait.

How many freaking portrait is he getting?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I like them.

I agree. They both are well done.

Bollocks. There's more life in the chairs than the faces (amongst other things). Technically accomplished, I'm sure, but that's really not a big deal.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I like them.

I agree. They both are well done.

Me too and the Obama's were very gracious to the Bush family as they should have been.

[tpfkaw]

Bush has aged 20-25 years since 2000:

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Bush has aged 20-25 years since 2000:

What do you think Obama will look like?

On topic: I like Bush's chair.

[The Mikado]

I like them.

I agree. They both are well done.

Bollocks. There's more life in the chairs than the faces (amongst other things). Technically accomplished, I'm sure, but that's really not a big deal.

The Bushes look like they're ready for Madame Tussaud's, but that's pretty standard for presidential portraiture.

[Torie]

George's is better than Laura's. Laura looks a bit lifeless. Both are workmanlike of course. Neither inspired.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

vacant stares, lifeless bodies.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Is there some heaped allegory about chairs I'm missing?

But they're pretty uninteresting and pretty meh...

[The Mikado]

Is there some heaped allegory about chairs I'm missing?

But they're pretty uninteresting and pretty meh...

More a running joke that "pushing a chair forward" is the default presidential portrait pose, and has been for decades.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Who painted them?  I want to know who not to commission a portrait from if I ever want one.

[Хahar 🤔]

If I were President, I would have my portrait done in the style of Ingres's Napoleon.

[King]

Too bad it's taboo to have them outside of the White House.  IMO Bush somehow looked his most Presidential when out of the suit and on the ranch.

Laura's should have been against a bookshelf.

[Joe Republic]

IMO Bush somehow looked his most Presidential when out of the suit and on the ranch.

Indeed, Bush was a much better president when he wasn't doing presidential things.

[Oakvale]

Those are pretty uninspired and workmanlike, yeah, but so are almost all Presidential portraits. Kennedy's is okay...



But, really, the only halfway interesting portrait of an American politican that springs to mind is Jerry Brown's gubernatorial portrait -

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Pawlenty's gubernatorial portrait is even more dull than the man, which is quite an accomplishment

http://politicsinminnesota.com/files/2011/10/Pawlentywithframe.jpg

[Donerail]

Some official portraits can be really good, though. For instance, Gov. Lawton Chiles (D-FL), has a pretty nice portrait (you can see the 'Old Florida' hunting lodge in the back, a raccoon (for his 'he-coon' image), lots of other cool stuff in it).

[The Mikado]

Surprised no one's commented on the Bush quote in the OP.  Guess it's low-hanging fruit.