George W. Bush Painted Putin and Other World Leaders

Christina Drill
April 04, 2014

Okay, full disclosure, I've always thought that George W. Bush was a fun guy. Yeah, there was the DUI he received at the age of 30, and the whole disaster that his Administration was, but I feel like before all of the criticism, if you got a bite to eat with good ol' W., he would have been a great companion to chat with over some burgers and beers. I have always fully supported his painting hobby and I must say the new portrait of Putin?! BOMB!

Dubya's new series of paintings show portraits of world political leaders-- among them Vladimir Putin, Tony Blair, and the Dalai Lama. He also showed a few NUDE self-portraits, which Gawker published last year after photos of the portraits had been hacked by a hacker named "Guccifer", much to Bush's dismay.

When asked about last year's hacking controversy on The Today Show, Bush said, "I was annoyed. It's an invasion of one's privacy. And yeah, I was annoyed. And nor do I want my paintings to get out."

Bush was also asked what the deal was with those "nude" self-portraits he painted, where Bush is shown taking a bath and shaving. "I found it very interesting the first painting that came out was the one I painted of myself in the bathtub," Bush responded. "I did so because I wanted to kind of shock my instructor." HE WANTED TO SHOCK HIS INSTRUCTOR WITH "NUDES"! He's soooo cute!

So the 24 political portraits will be displayed in an exhibit in his Presidential library titled "The Art of Leadership: A President’s Personal Diplomacy." When his daughter Jenna interviewed him Bush revealed that no, none of the leaders have yet to see their portrait. Laura asked her dad what he thought their response would be after seeing the paintings:

"I think they're gonna be [like], 'Wow! George Bush is a painter!'... I hope they took it in the spirit in which these were painted. In the spirit with friendship."

Holy crap. I can't believe this guy was the president of our country for eight whole years-- actually, no, yes I can.

"The Art of Leadership" opens this Saturday. The exhibit, which will also showcase photographs and artifacts in addition to the paintings, will explore Bush’s relationships with world leaders while in office.