Smithsonian

While the official portrait of George W. Bush, unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery last month, has garnered criticism — for a label that links the attacks of 9/11 to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — there has been little focus on the art itself. We asked local artists and writers, including Frank Gaard, Dan Ibarra, Mason Riddle and Todd Norsten among others, to weigh in on the portraits of the soon-to-be-former first couple. The responses ranged from the comical (Bush looks like he’s in a Viagra ad) to the meta (in 2009, why is an oil painting still the standard for official portraiture?) to the art historical (Bush’s pose before a vase of lilies suggests a surprising Christian symbol — of innocence).

Making the cover of TIME wasn’t the peak of Shepard Fairey’s successes this election season: his iconic Obama poster was purchased by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery for an undisclosed sum, and a reworking of the red, white and blue classic is being given away to donors to the historic inauguration. But for those of [...]