Dwight Eisenhower, Artist

I did not know, until I saw a mention in The New York Times for September 15, 2012, that President Dwight Eisenhower had been an amateur painter.

What a token of a distant, more civilized era. Imagine a current President having the time to devote to such fripperies.

An article, with pictures, about his career exists. PDF here.

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Posted By: Paul - Mon Feb 25, 2013
Category: Art | Politics | Historical Figure | 1950s

Comments

If some presidents would (have taken) take the time to paint maybe he (they) wouldn't have (had) time to spend some many tax dollars.

Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 02/25/13 at 10:16 AM

Of course, the political leader on the other side during the war was also fond of painting. It would be interesting to compare the works of the two side by side!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paintings_by_Adolf_Hitler

Posted by Alex on 02/25/13 at 10:44 AM

Could this be the inspiration for M.A.S.H.'s Colonel Potter's pastime?

Posted by KDP on 02/25/13 at 10:44 AM

Having visited the Eisenhower estate this past September I saw a lot of his work in his home. What is too bad is that this article didn't use his good work. There were paintings that were much better than those used as illustrations here.

He did some incredible work.

Posted by A.E. Casey on 02/25/13 at 01:07 PM

I should of course have mentioned this recent revelation:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/02/08/george_w_bush_s_paintings_and_self_portrait_critics_weigh_in.html

Posted by Paul on 02/25/13 at 02:04 PM

I never liked W but the man does have the right to a private hobby. That said, I do find the fact that he chose to paint himself nude in the shower rather disturbing.

Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 02/25/13 at 11:43 PM

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