Comments on: What’s New on the White House Walls

By: Farmer Boi

Farmer Boi — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:51:47 +0000

D’oh! That last image is of “Cityscape #1″ which is in the collection of the SF MoMA. It’s probably a pretty accurate rendition of a street, but one up in the bay area. Reminds me of Daly City. Definitely hundreds of miles from being an Ocean Park.

By: NoCap'nTrade

NoCap'nTrade — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:55:16 +0000

Well, since he’s going to ruin our economy with cap and trade, I could care less what paintings he has on the walls as he drags our country deeper into economic trouble.

By: Fruppi

Fruppi — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:38:27 +0000

Hurricane, what exactly about abstract art would demonstrate a lack of understanding of history? If you want to properly appreciate a lot of abstract art, you have to understand the context in which the works were painted and have the ability to use your understanding of the period in which the painter lived to interpret the painting. Just because you have to think about it a bit doesn’t make it any less valuable than concrete paintings of the same subjects.

By: Chocobo

Chocobo — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:24:41 +0000

Buuuurnnn.

Super cool that Obama’s bringing in more recent history into the White House. It shouldn’t just be a museum to house 18th/19th century artifacts, but the whole history of American art.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:19:08 +0000

The bust of Churchill by Epstein is owned by the British Government Art Collection and was loaned to George W Bush by Tony Blair. Obama did not “chuck it out” as Right-wingers are saying. (I was having a conversation in the Post Office and mentioned Churchill and a woman, recognizing my British accent, turned around and screamed at me “Obama threw out the bust of Churchill, that tells you a lot about him”)

By: nisuha

nisuha — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:49:54 +0000

From the Daily Telegraph:

“American politicians have made quoting Churchill, whose mother was American, something of an art form, but not Mr Obama, who prefers to cite the words and works of his hero Abraham Lincoln. Indeed a bust of Mr Lincoln now sits in the Oval Office where Epstein’s Churchill once ruled the roost.

“Churchill has less happy connotations for Mr Obama than those American politicians who celebrate his wartime leadership. It was during Churchill’s second premiership that Britain suppressed Kenya’s Mau Mau rebellion. Among Kenyans allegedly tortured by the colonial regime included one Hussein Onyango Obama, the President’s grandfather.”

You’re right. No understanding of history at all.

By: Hurricane

Hurricane — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:00:33 +0000

Good thing he got rid of the Churchill bust as well. That was sooo tacky. Seeing how he has such a little understanding of history it is no surprise he would put up abstract art.

By: lulu

lulu — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:49:05 +0000

It’s so great that the Obama’s have the courage to shake up the status quo. These works will look GREAT in the “People’s House.”