Let’s Be Perfectly Honest…George W. Bush Is Just Not A Very Good Painter

Starting on April 5th and ending in early June, the George W. Bush Presidential Center is running an exhibit titled “The Art of Leadership: A President’s Personal Diplomacy.” The main focal point of the exhibit is on the former President’s oil paintings of world leaders that he had encounters with during his time in office. After leaving office, Bush took up oil painting and has spent much of his spare time working on his craft.

Let’s take a look at some of his paintings that will be on display for the next eight weeks. These pictures are all courtesy of the Bush Center’s Flickr page.

Here is a portrait of Afghanistan’s leader, Hamid Karzai:

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

Below, we see a wall full of portraits of leaders of a number of different countries:

Take a look at President Bush’s rendition of Vladimir Putin:

Bush paid tribute to his friend, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, with this painting:

Finally, this exhibit wouldn’t be complete without a self-portrait. To make it even more complete, Bush paired it with a portrait of his father, former President George H. W. Bush. Here you go:

You know, looking at these paintings, I was struck by how similar in style they looked to another painter’s work. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I racked my brain until it finally occurred to me where I had seen paintings like Bush’s before.

If you don’t know who Jessie St. Vincent is, that is completely understandable. She is a fictional character from the movie Boogie Nights.  In the film, Jessie St. Vincent is a porn star who loves oil painting. While she is extremely passionate and one day wants to be known solely for her painting, she obviously lacks any true artistic talent. This appears to be the case with George W. Bush. He has been quite prolific with his painting, as he has painted dozens of pieces, if not more. However, being passionate and dedicated doesn’t necessarily make him good.

Justin Baragona

Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).