Painting of Nude Bush Removed From Museum
From URL:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...h_nude_painting
WASHINGTON - A cartoonish painting of President Bush
(news - web sites) in the nude has been taken down
from the wall at the City Museum of Washington. The
picture, called "Man of Leisure, King George," adopts
the pose of a famous Impressionist painting, Edouard
Manet's "Olympia," that scandalized Paris in 1863, and
now hangs in the Gare d'Orsay Museum in Paris.
The painting by local artist Kayti Didriksen, shows a
caricature of Bush, reclining in the nude on a chaise
lounge, his head propped up by pillows.
Instead of the female servant who stands behind
Olympia's couch, a man in suit and tie resembling Vice
President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) stands
nearby, holding a cushion with a crown and a miniature
oil rig on top of it.
The painting was part of a "living room art" show
called "Funky Furniture" — a variety of painted
furniture and other items that were set up in the
museum last week.
Expected to formally open this month, the show,
including the Bush painting, was abruptly shut down
Monday after some of the artists' themes were
considered unsuitable.
Myra Peabody Gossens, a public relations consultant
for the museum, said the exhibit was not what had been
expected.
"The museum is not an art museum," she explained. "It
gets mostly groups of children, with teachers trying
to tell them something about history."
In addition to the Bush painting, the exhibit included
a decorated church pew with pictures and writing that
accused former President Reagan of ignoring the AIDS
(news - web sites) crisis and an end table decorated
with drug paraphernalia with a quote from former
District of Columbia Mayor Marion Barry, who was
jailed for drug possession.
"This is not what we were bargaining for. We thought
we were getting functional furniture," Leslie Shapiro,
co-chairman of the museum's board of directors, told
the Washington Post.
The City Museum of Washington, operated by the
Historical Society of Washington, D.C., is primarily a
place where local and regional history is on display.
The museum's executive board decided the museum was
"not an appropriate venue" for the exhibit.
Art-O-Matic 2004, a confederation of local artists
which organized the project, now is looking for
another space to house the exhibit, said Jim Tretick,
a member of the group's board of directors.
"About a dozen people may have seen it on Sunday,"
said Tretick. "The exhibit wasn't completely mounted.
Then it was taken down on Monday when the museum was closed."
=====
From URL:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...h_nude_painting
WASHINGTON - A cartoonish painting of President Bush
(news - web sites) in the nude has been taken down
from the wall at the City Museum of Washington. The
picture, called "Man of Leisure, King George," adopts
the pose of a famous Impressionist painting, Edouard
Manet's "Olympia," that scandalized Paris in 1863, and
now hangs in the Gare d'Orsay Museum in Paris.
The painting by local artist Kayti Didriksen, shows a
caricature of Bush, reclining in the nude on a chaise
lounge, his head propped up by pillows.
Instead of the female servant who stands behind
Olympia's couch, a man in suit and tie resembling Vice
President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) stands
nearby, holding a cushion with a crown and a miniature
oil rig on top of it.
The painting was part of a "living room art" show
called "Funky Furniture" — a variety of painted
furniture and other items that were set up in the
museum last week.
Expected to formally open this month, the show,
including the Bush painting, was abruptly shut down
Monday after some of the artists' themes were
considered unsuitable.
Myra Peabody Gossens, a public relations consultant
for the museum, said the exhibit was not what had been
expected.
"The museum is not an art museum," she explained. "It
gets mostly groups of children, with teachers trying
to tell them something about history."
In addition to the Bush painting, the exhibit included
a decorated church pew with pictures and writing that
accused former President Reagan of ignoring the AIDS
(news - web sites) crisis and an end table decorated
with drug paraphernalia with a quote from former
District of Columbia Mayor Marion Barry, who was
jailed for drug possession.
"This is not what we were bargaining for. We thought
we were getting functional furniture," Leslie Shapiro,
co-chairman of the museum's board of directors, told
the Washington Post.
The City Museum of Washington, operated by the
Historical Society of Washington, D.C., is primarily a
place where local and regional history is on display.
The museum's executive board decided the museum was
"not an appropriate venue" for the exhibit.
Art-O-Matic 2004, a confederation of local artists
which organized the project, now is looking for
another space to house the exhibit, said Jim Tretick,
a member of the group's board of directors.
"About a dozen people may have seen it on Sunday,"
said Tretick. "The exhibit wasn't completely mounted.
Then it was taken down on Monday when the museum was closed."
=====
Saw that earlier today on an online news site. Funny and interesting. 