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Courtesy of The Smoking Gun, an anonymous hacker broke into George W. Bush's e-mail, and among the discoveries were a pair of interesting self-portraits painted by the man:  I have to admit that I think they're actually very cool paintings, and done in a style I wouldn't have expected from Bush. Thoughts? And thoughts about the fact that a former president's email was insecure enough that someone was able to get in?
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 19:53 |
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| # ? May 22, 2013 02:47 |
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I never really thought about whether or not a given president (or other head of state here or abroad) would have a hobby. Was it Clinton who was an avid saxophone player?
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 19:56 |
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I know that this guy singlehandedly made America into the bogeyman that it is today but I just can't stay mad at the guy I remember reading the article on which he mourned the loss of his beloved pet and he just seems so drat harmless.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 19:56 |
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Maybe an iota better than Hitler. Edit: Legit better than Churchill.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 19:56 |
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Man even Dubya can paint better than I can, that's depressing. Did it state how they went about accessing his account because that's pretty crazy, maybe I should start changing my password often like they always suggest. Not that anyone would want to hack my email.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 19:56 |
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Is he really that ripped? I don't think I've seen him shirtless. Let's have a Dubya/Putin comparison.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 19:57 |
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The Washington Free Beacon went with the headline "Greatest Living President is Also Fantastic Painter".quote:The paintings demonstrate a command of line and color that is rarely seen in the modern-day “art” world. Former President George W. Bush appears to be influenced by such painters as Edgar Degas and Édouard Manet. The portraits also clearly capture the personality of their subject. Eisenhower also took up painting after leaving office.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 19:57 |
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Joementum posted:The Washington Free Beacon went with the headline "Greatest Living President is Also Fantastic Painter". But yes I actually kind of like these paintings. I am a little surprised.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:03 |
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Here's another one he did of his dog, Barney, after he died. Yes, he really does sign them "43" 
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:06 |
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"Stinky Jacuzzi" by 43
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:09 |
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Joementum posted:Here's another one he did of his dog, Barney, after he died. I'm impressed that is a heartwarming painting, I would of never imagined this from George W Bush.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:10 |
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Joementum posted:Here's another one he did of his dog, Barney, after he died. This is actually a pretty cool painting too.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:11 |
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toby posted:Hahaha. The shower painting with his face partially visible in the mirror is pretty deep. I could read a ton into the meaning and symbolism in there. Cool stuff. Also, neat to see that his dominant theme seems to be scenes of him trying to get clean.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:13 |
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Akbar posted:The shower painting with his face partially visible in the mirror is pretty deep. I could read a ton into the meaning and symbolism in there. Cool stuff. It's like baby's first Las Meninas.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:15 |
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I think it's interesting that you never see his full body and face and only aspects of his body with his face only in the mirror when his back is turned.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:17 |
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toby posted:Hahaha. All kidding aside, same here. They're pretty interesting paintings.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:18 |
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...god dammit W., you were an awful president but that is a pretty kick rear end dog painting right there. I wouldn't be embarrassed to hang it up in my place, just about saying who it was by. I'm also weirdly drawn to the bathtub one. Just something about it is pretty cool.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:19 |
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Joementum posted:Here's another one he did of his dog, Barney, after he died. I'm fairly impressed with this one. It feels weird that the worst president ever is actually a fairly okay painter.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:20 |
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I bet it turns out he posed his dead dog.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:21 |
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Ice Phisherman posted:I'm fairly impressed with this one. He missed his calling.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:21 |
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Joementum posted:The Washington Free Beacon went with the headline "Greatest Living President is Also Fantastic Painter". Oh man. I had to look this up to check it wasn't a parody. It's just so cloying and sycophantic. I do like the paintings but I can't believe someone would publish the above with a straight face.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:24 |
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Has anyone mentioned that hilter painted  yet?Look at all of Hitlers dogs: https://www.google.com/search?q=hit...iw=1366&bih=677
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:24 |
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There's no doubt Bush was terrible but at least you can distribute a large portion of the blame on fuckwits like Cheney, Wolfowitz, and Rumsfeld too. It would be funny if they all turned out to be fantastic artists.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:27 |
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Y'know I always thought Hitler's paintings were okay v v
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:34 |
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Joementum posted:The Washington Free Beacon went with the headline "Greatest Living President is Also Fantastic Painter". Ted Kennedy painted too. My mother won a print of one of his paintings in an auction a while back.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:34 |
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I'm sure that the born again black sheep of one of America's richest families can do a lot of nifty stuff that takes lessons and free time.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:35 |
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Real hurthling! posted:I'm sure that the born again black sheep of one of America's richest families can do a lot of nifty stuff that takes lessons and free time. No doubt, but painting is not the sort of activity one would necessarily assume Bush would be drawn to spending the time and effort to master. At least I didn't. I don't doubt that he can have the best painting tutors money can buy, I'm just kind of surprised that he chose that as his activity of choice.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:43 |
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Ice Phisherman posted:It feels weird that the worst president ever is actually a fairly okay painter. I didn't know that Herbert Hoover was a painter.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:43 |
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KimT posted:Y'know I always thought Hitler's paintings were okay v I always thought his buildings were pretty good and there was one of a man walking down a road I actually loved. By no means a feat of the method, but it had fantastic atmosphere.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:44 |
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Joementum posted:Here's another one he did of his dog, Barney, after he died. You're telling me that if you were a president, you wouldn't do things like sign your paintings as "43"? I sure as gently caress would. There's probably a 0.000001% chance I'll ever be president, so you won't have to roll your eyes at the idea of me signing 48 or something.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:46 |
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"They Come When I Am Alone" By 43
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:47 |
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These are legit great and I hope kanye taps him for his 6th solo cover art
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:50 |
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On the one hand I'm very surprised. On the other he had a lot of free time, you know, what with not actually presiding over that much.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:50 |
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Das Boo posted:I always thought his buildings were pretty good and there was one of a man walking down a road I actually loved. By no means a feat of the method, but it had fantastic atmosphere. Hitler's paintings are striking in how lifeless they are. The people are flat and uninteresting but he painted beautiful architecture. It was later reflected in his megalomaniacal fantasies of killing everyone and creating a world of flawless people and overpowering buildings. As Akbar said, it's really interesting that Bush's paintings have a theme of trying to get clean. He seems very sad in the mirror portrait.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:52 |
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Dusseldorf posted:It's like baby's first Las Meninas.  Now if I can just sort out the point of views and convergence lines...I wonder how high he was when he did these? I'm imagining him totally baked, in his bathrobe, talking like Bob Ross, "I'll just put a happy little georgie toe here..."
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:52 |
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Wow, like you guys have said these paintings are actually really interesting. Certainly a lot better than I could do. I'm utterly impressed.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:55 |
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Modus Operandi posted:There's no doubt Bush was terrible but at least you can distribute a large portion of the blame on fuckwits like Cheney, Wolfowitz, and Rumsfeld too. It would be funny if they all turned out to be fantastic artists. Bush is an awesomely nice, good-hearted person. He is also an awesomely horrible, misguided political figure. I'm not surprised that he is an artist, dude has to have an outlet at some point given his career. His portraits have this incredibly sullen, tired feel to them. The feeling of a broken person comes through in the painting, regardless of knowing who painted it. Cheney and Rumsfeld are easily the scum of their respective administrations, and everyone seeing that is the "history will tell" that G.W. was talking about in his exit interviews.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:56 |
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“There is nothing fiercer than a failed artist. The energy remains, but, having no outlet, it implodes in a great black fart of rage which smokes up all the inner windows of the soul. Horrible as successful artists often are, there is nothing crueler or more vain than a failed artist.” -Erica Jong I found the episodes of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia with the hitler dog painting extremely hilarious. Hitler was a failed artist, then he killed those drat Jews who were responsible for the modernist movements.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:58 |
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Danger Doug posted:Bush is an awesomely nice, good-hearted person. He is also an awesomely horrible, misguided political figure. I'm not surprised that he is an artist, dude has to have an outlet at some point given his career. His portraits have this incredibly sullen, tired feel to them. The feeling of a broken person comes through in the painting, regardless of knowing who painted it. Maybe those who aspire to becoming historical figures should remember the lack of pity history has for the individual. He is nowhere near guiltless, if that is what you're saying.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 20:59 |
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| # ? May 22, 2013 02:47 |
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Joementum posted:Here's another one he did of his dog, Barney, after he died. I like to imagine he was planning on making his art world debut as the mysterious "43," baffling fans and critics alike with his impressive style and snide chuckle. But seriously this is a sweet picture. He seems like an alright guy; it's a shame he had such lovely policies.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 21:02 |
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