On Saturday, former US President George W Bush, who has said he is admittedly “not a great painter”, opened a public exhibit of his works – more than 24 portraits of world leaders he met while president.
The BBC’s Nick Bryant has a preview of the gallery:
For a president long criticised for seeing things only in black and white, the exhibition of George W Bush’s art at his presidential library in Dallas comes as something of a revelation.
Delicate brushwork has replaced his famed swagger. He presents himself as a wholly different kind of Texas oilman. With each new brushstroke he seems also to be softening his public image.
George W Bush told his art teacher, whom he meets on a weekly basis, to unleash his inner Rembrandt, and the results are now on public display: a deeply personal gallery of world leaders, focusing on the art of personal diplomacy.
His vantage point, of course, is unique: the cockpit of the presidency – or, at least, his recollection of those tumultuous White House years. So there is more to them than canvas, paints and brushes. Another key ingredient is personal chemistry.
His portrait of Tony Blair, which is bereft of the former British prime minister’s trademark toothy smile, was intended to portray compassion, strength and reliability.
His Angela Merkel shows a more cheery side to the German chancellor than her sometimes grumpy public persona projects.
Perhaps the most unflattering portrait is that of the former Pakistan president, General Pervez Musharraf, a leader who liked to think of himself as a dashing former paratrooper rather than the tired and bloated figure represented here.
The extravagant bouffant, of which the general was justifiably proud, does not even make it into frame.
Maybe this is a form of artistic revenge. After all, when it came to fighting al-Qaeda and hunting down Osama Bin Laden, the Bush administration always suspected Islamabad of playing a double game: accepting American military aid but of not doing enough to flush out the mastermind of 9/11.
Nor is the outgoing Afghan president Hamid Karzai portrayed in a complimentary light. This, again, was a fraught relationship.
Making these kinds of extrapolations is part of the fun of this exhibition. Far from being declarative, it can be interpreted in so many different ways.
George W Bush says his portraits would not have been possible had he not invested so much time in personal diplomacy.
He paints every day, gets a lesson every week and says his inspiration came from his great hero Sir Winston Churchill.
Those who interacted closely with Mr Bush during his White House years reckon he was unrecognisable from the two-dimensional figure who lent himself to such easy caricature.
Certainly, his artwork has added an extra and unexpected side.
