I was reading about Obama's new presidential portrait and started thinking again about my favorite Presidential portrait. Not surprisingly, most are sober paintings of stiff men. Sargent's portrait of Teddy Roosevelt has an interesting sparse, sepia, common-man quality. Kennedy's posthumous portrait is grim, nearly a political cartoon. But Norman Rockwell's Nixon is terrific. Nixon looks likes he's leaning forward to listen. He looks relaxed and confident and focused on the the viewer. No jingoistic claptrap or luxury in the background. No red white and blue. Just a man in front of you, listening. All presidential portraits should feel so democratic.
NORMAN ROCKWELL'S PRESIDENTIAL PORTRAIT of RICHARD NIXON
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@oromagi
I was reading about Obama's new presidential portrait and started thinking again about my favorite Presidential portrait. Not surprisingly, most are sober paintings of stiff men. Sargent's portrait of Teddy Roosevelt has an interesting sparse, sepia, common-man quality. Kennedy's posthumous portrait is grim, nearly a political cartoon. But Norman Rockwell's Nixon is terrific. Nixon looks likes he's leaning forward to listen. He looks relaxed and confident and focused on the the viewer. No jingoistic claptrap or luxury in the background. No red white and blue. Just a man in front of you, listening. All presidential portraits should feel so democratic.
Nixon didn’t do too well in taped recordings. He resigned once they were discovered.
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@Shila
Agreed, but that history doesn't reflect much on the quality of a portrait painting. Bill Cosby's jokes didn't suddenly stop being funny just because we found out he was a rapist.
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@oromagi
Nixon didn’t do too well in taped recordings. He resigned once they were discovered.
--> @ShilaAgreed, but that history doesn't reflect much on the quality of a portrait painting. Bill Cosby's jokes didn't suddenly stop being funny just because we found out he was a rapist.
It was funny reading the list of white women he raped (60). The preferred to be drugged while a black man raped them. So he did stop being funny after the women found out he was a rapist. That they were not alone.
Bill Cosby not found guilty of rape charges.
Lesson.
When a white woman sleeps with a black man, Rape cannot be her excuse.
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@oromagi
I do like the Norman Rockwell portrait of Nixon better than the portrait of Nixon by James Anthony Wills.
James Anthony Wills, hair looks too square, eyes don't look right, really the whole face feels a bit off somehow, too much yellow in background, though the artist signature isn't as obtrusive as Norman Rockwell's.
Norman Rockwell's just look more human to me, real, or has 'character of how I think of Nixon.
Richard M. Nixon - White House Historical Association (whitehousehistory.org) James Anthony Wills
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@Lemming
--> @oromagiI do like the Norman Rockwell portrait of Nixon better than the portrait of Nixon by James Anthony Wills.James Anthony Wills, hair looks too square, eyes don't look right, really the whole face feels a bit off somehow, too much yellow in background, though the artist signature isn't as obtrusive as Norman Rockwell's.Norman Rockwell's just look more human to me, real, or has 'character of how I think of Nixon.Richard M. Nixon - White House Historical Association (whitehousehistory.org) James Anthony Wills
They both missed Nixon’s signature expression that he was a crook.