Donald Trump has a relationship “complicated” with art and images. It is enough to remember the fake Renoir hanging in his jet, of all the false ” one ” Time hung in its various golf courses, in Florida, in Scotland or elsewhere. Shall we go on ? In January, he had asked the Guggenheim museum in New York, to lend him Landscape in the snow, Vincent Van Gogh, to brighten the White House, he does not find to his taste. The new york institution had jilted him and had proposed, place, America, a sculpture of a toilet in gold, Maurizio Cattelan.
But Donald Trump can count on his friends : Darrell Issa, republican representative of California in the House of representatives, he was offered The Republican Club, a canvas – very kitsch – painted by Andy Thomas, 61, an artist who resides in Carthage, Missouri.
She appeared at the bend of the interview granted by the president on the television show “60 minutes,” Sunday, October 14, on CBS. Social networks have seized to taunt the likes of the president, which, incidentally, has only one laser copying of the original, which is located in the office of the painter.
Now on 60 Minutes: There’s less than a month until the mid-term elections. Hear what President Trump has to say abo&welcome to join; https://t.co/lf9DFkJwTo
— 60mins (@60 Minutes)
At the same level as the other republican presidents
Has its way, this table represents Donald Trump on an equal footing with the republican presidents of the most memorable around a table : Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon – hilarious –, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. What are they doing together ? What will they say ? In the Washington Post, the artist, specialized in paintings inspired by the american West, quoted by Frederic Remington and Charles Marion Russell, Howard Pyle and Norman Rockwell as influences, and says : “This is funny, it is that we do not know how they would get along. This is not because they are all republicans that they really love. “
On CNN, the painter said that the president, surrounded by the vice-chairman, Mike Pence, and Darrell Issa called it a few weeks ago, to thank him, saying that he didn’t like most of the portraits made of him. How not to vote ? “It is true, it is not easy to paint, and there are plenty of tables are quite ugly,” says the painter.
Andy Thomas explains to Time that the more complicated is to reproduce the smile of the presidents. Some “have the banana”, of course, like Ronald Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy or Barack Obama ; others, like Trump, are not able to dispose of their smile campaign, more forced.
For the current president, Andy Thomas has looked at thousands of photographs. The artist acknowledges that he tries to be nice with his models : in addition to the charming smile, it removes the unnecessary pounds. It saves even Richard Nixon, even if in a first version of The Republican Club, he acknowledged that he had ” given a little bit paranoid, hiding his cards.” For painting with Donald Trump, it may be fair to accuse him of sulking for his tube of orange paint.
No political message… even though
Andy Thomas is not involved in politics with his paintings. Since 2008, he has painted The Grand Ol’ Gang, representing the republican presidents playing poker, and then not seek The Red, with the presidents democrats playing pool. In 2016, he explained to Time that its two presidents favorites were Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, and he defined it as close to Rand Paul, a republican senator of sensitivity libertarienne, figure of the Tea Party.
@jbillinson Who is she? Are the shadowy figures supposed to be past Repub presidents too? If it’s the ghost of Nikk&welcome to join; https://t.co/KSGriEcZ5M
— thejeffreymarsh (@jeffrey marsh)
Some have noticed a female presence in the paint. In march, Mr. Thomas explained to Time have wanted to add a touch of feminist to his works : to a woman lines still indistinguishable approach the table of the presidents. For the artist, ” it represents the first president, republican or democrat… It will be the first president, and she comes to take his place at the table “. He stated then that his daughter Jenny was inspired : “It would do that. It would directly sit at the table. “
Far from the White House, Obama
The foodies will have also noticed that Donald Trump is also always a fan of junk food : on the right, on a shelf stands a jar of… candy Starbust.
I’ll give him this: a jar of just the pink and red starbursts is probably one of the first things I ask for if I’m&welcome to join; https://t.co/lHqZTiwqWx
— jbillinson (@Josh Billinson)
Donald Trump remains true to its strategy of rupture with his predecessor, who had chosen to decorate his office, an abstract painting by Nicolas de Stael, and who, according to legend, ate seven almonds, in the evening, before bedtime.