Republican fantasy portraits signify the surrealism of the current WH situation. This one, caught during the CBS interview with Lord Dampnut for 60 Minutes, is much like other Trump portraits and are simply part of the con, remembering how he used Trump Foundation money to buy some. A gift from Darrell (or his other brother Darryl) Issa, Trump claims to like it. More interesting is that even Warren G. Harding, contender for worst POTUS, appears in this updated dogs-playing-poker genre painting.
As you can see, the painting depicts Trump laughing alongside a slew of former Republican presidents. Trump seems to be enjoying his favorite Coke, while Abraham Lincoln has a glass of water, a beverage chronologically suited to his mid-1800s presidency. Ulysses S. Grant, Calvin Coolidge, and even the not-so-popular Herbert Hoover are lurking in the background, as is a mysterious female figure.
These artistic choices are all the work of the seemingly bipartisan Andy Thomas, who has also depicted Democratic presidents playing poker. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) gave this painting to Trump, and the president called the artist to seemingly compliment the work, saying "he'd seen a lot of paintings of himself and he rarely liked them," Thomas told The Daily Beast.
theweek.com/...
Trump’s taste in art befits his bridge and tunnel taste. For him art is based on perceived status value and its subject matter invariably decorative or self-glorifying.
You may know McNaughton as the artist of "Expose the Truth," which features Trump grabbing Special Counsel Robert Mueller by the tie and peering at his nose through a magnifying glass. Or perhaps you've seen McNaughton's "The Forgotten Man," in which James Madison gapes at former President Barack Obama for stepping on the Constitution. Sean Hannity has that one hanging in his home.
theweek.com/...
“Sep 14, 2016 · In 2007, Donald Trump spent $20,000 that belonged to his charity — the Donald J. Trump Foundation — to buy a six-foot-tall portrait of himself during a fundraiser auction at his Mar-a-Lago ...”
“I often dreamed about Hitler as other men dreamed about women” and even went as far as to include Hitler in his artwork. This includes 1958's Metamorphosis of Hitler’s Face into a Moonlit Landscape with Accompaniment, where the Nazi leader's portrait is disguised in a landscape.
[...]
Always up for a prank, some consider Salvador Dalí a bit of a con man. Close friend and muse Amanda Lear recalls how he once duped Yoko Ono, selling her a blade of grass for $10,000. Apparently, Ono had asked Dalí to sell him a strand of hair from his infamous mustache. Not one to turn down a check, he got creative.
“Dali thought that Yoko Ono was a witch and might use it in a spell. He didn't want to send her a personal item, much less one of his hairs,” Lear explained. “So he sent me to the garden to find a dry blade of grass, and sent it off in a nice presentation box. The idiot paid 10,000 dollars for it. It amused him to rip people off.”
mymodernmet.com/…