Presidential Portraits – the Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Well, sounds like I might be topical for once. Indeed, Barack Obama’s official portrait has generated more than its fair share of buzz:

Different? Yes. Effective? I’m not so sure.

I actually like Kehinde Wiley’s stuff. Typically, he takes totally unknown people, poses them in art-historical heroic poses, then puts in a background that, though very busy, is also incredibly flat – all with a style that is pretty darn close to photorealism. It sounds weird, but it can also be pretty darn interesting:

Of course, he also did portraits of black women holding the decapitated heads of white women:

The art history reference here is supposed to be Judith and Holofernes (hey, I have an art history minor, okay?), but Holofernes is actually supposed to be a guy. Which makes this a little … um, scary?

Needless to say, there’s not a lot of other official presidential portraits like that out there. What is out there? Well, let’s take a look.

NOTE:  I'm limiting these to official portraits. Otherwise, there are just too darn many to pick from.


Jefferson

I think Rembrandt Peale (no slouch as an artist) has done a good job portraying a very complex individual. I also this is just a bang-up classic portrait. I particularly love the dark colors and the utter simplicity. What a spotlight it shines on Jefferson.


Lincoln

This is my fave. I would imagine it’s the fave of a lot of people as well. I like how it really seems to capture Lincoln’s thoughtful character (and long before the hand on chin pose became a cliche). Notice, too how everything is focused on his very expressive face, putting all else into shadow. Finally, I also like the color combo of dark reds, greys , browns, and blacks.

But did you know that Lincoln also made it into my ugly president post as well?


TR

Another portrait that speaks reams about the sitter’s personality. John Singer Sargant (the most distinguished artist to attempt one of these portraits) has managed to capture Roosevelt’s confident persona perfectly. 

I also like how modern this was for its time. The concentration is all on the figure itself. No distracting background frou-frou.

And ditto for this guy, unfortunately.


JFK

Once again, great psychological insight. It’s also very much not your standard portrait, but super-effective nonetheless. I’m also guessing that this was just as modern and different then as Obama’s is today.

That said, JFK was not a ginger.  :^(

He did, however, make it into my Hall of Presidential Hotties.


Hoover

 

Indeed, not looking exactly like the guy is probably the biggest problem with these portraits.  And that’s why I’ve focused just on the head, and also included a photo for comparison, for the rest of these.  

Now, this does look like it’s a portrait of an older Hoover, but still …

Back to the Hall of Presidential Notties for this dude, I'm afraid.



Carter

 

Is it the eyes? The forehead? The nose?

I mean, I get that it’s Jimmy Carter. But something is definitely a little off here.

Since Jimmy hasn't been covered here before, let me offer a few random facts about our 39th president:

• He was the 1st president born in a hospital
• He's the only Naval Academy grad to become president
• He and his wife once lived in public housing
• He's had the longest retirement of any president ever
• The Carters recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary

Reagan

 

It’s the eyes, right? Gotta be the eyes. It’s always the eyes, isn’t it?

And it's back to the good-looking presidents.


GHWB

 

Haven’t a clue who that guy on the left is. I’m sure the two are related somehow though. Perhaps that’s George’s older country cousin.

Never covered this guy anywhere else, so ... Did you know that our 41st president:

• Was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and three Air Medals in WWII
• Played in the College World Series
• Got his BA from Yale in two and a half years
• Is a member of the US Golf Hall of Fame
• Is, at age 93, our oldest living president ever

Nixon

 

Now, we all know Tricky Dick had an unusual nose. But, I swear, that thing makes him look like Jimmy the Greek. 

And here is some random trivia about this guy (Nixon, not Jimmy the Greek):

• He was named after King Richard I of England
• He turned down a scholarship to Harvard
• He played football and basketball in college
• He did local theatre, and met his wife Pat there

Ford

 

Well, well, what suave, semi-famous B movie leading man do we have here? It’s certainly not goofy, boring, stumblebum, ex-jock, possibly-not-too-bright Gerald Ford now, is it? No, couldn't possibly be.

Perhaps even harder to believe, though, is the fact that Ford made it into my presidential hotties blog.



You might also enjoy:

• First lady portraits
• Presidential Hotties
• Presidential Notties

The Meanings of Country Names – a Map (Eastern Hemisphere)

Everyone probably knows that Norway has something to do with the north, right? Or that Liberia comes from the Latin for “free.”

And then there’s Burkina Faso.  Or Bosnia-Hercegovina. Or Uzbekistan. Or Papua-New Guinea. I’m afraid most of us don’t exactly speak those languages.

So, here are 5 maps that show what the Eastern Hemisphere would like if the countries’ names were all translated into English, from whatever their ultimate sources might be.


More maps:

• US states
• Western Hemisphere

Europe  (i.e., "Wide Face")

A little explanation is probably in order for some of these:

• “10 arrows” referred to a confederation of 10 Hungarian tribes
• The name for Spain is actually from the Phoenician for “hyraxes” (they thought the rabbits they saw there looked their native hyraxes – whatever the heck a hyrax is)
• I could not fit in the itty-bitty Andorra (“scrubland”), Monaco (“single”), and Liechtenstein (“stone of light”) – if those are even really actual countries, that is. 

Africa  ("Dust")

More notes:

• I didn’t include the Ivory Coast or Central African Republic, as those seemed pretty obvious. At the same time, if I were to just go by their root meanings, they would be Ivory Flank and Central Dust Public Thing.
• Madagascar is actually a reworking of Mogadishu (which means “seat of the shah”). Some early explorer must have been very lost indeed.
• “Vexation” was coined by a rival kingdom on what must have been an obvious thorn in their side
• “Our canoes” supposedly came about when some European explorer dude asked the natives what their land was called, pointing broadly to the where the natives had beached their canoes.  True story.

Middle East

• “Male descendent of Muhammad” refers to only the “Emirates” part of the UAE
• Copper was named after Cyprus, and not the other way around
• The Created’s are for Turkey and Turkmenistan (with the latter actually meaning “land of the ones who are like the created”)

Asia  ("East")

• “China” comes from the Chin Dynasty, which comes from the Chin family, who come from the Chin Valley, which means …
• The Philippines are named after King Phillip II of Spain (the Philippines were originally a Spanish colony), with Phillip coming from the Greek roots hippos (horses) and philos (love).

Oceania

• The Marianas were named after Queen Mariana of Austria, widow of Philip IV of Spain (they too were once Spanish). And, if we read the state etymology post, we know that Mary comes from the Hebrew word for bitterness.
• The “indirect replies” were not given to some explorer, but are “in reference to the island's creation story involving the destruction of the giant Chuab.” Hey, thanks for nothing, Wikipedia!
• Kiribati is a native version of Gilbert (as in Gilbert Islands), who were named after British explorer Thomas Gilbert. The surname Gilbert is, in turn, from the first name Gilbert, which means “bright pledge” in some long-ago Germanic tongue.