Lewinsky's Shadow Painted in Bill Clinton's WH Portrait

[Whatshername]

Portrait artist says he painted Lewinsky reference in Bill Clinton’s official painting

 

 

(This post has been updated.)

 

A cursory glance at the official painting of President Bill Clinton that is part of the National Portrait Gallery collection would easily miss an ode to the lowest point of his presidency — Monica Lewinsky.

 

But it’s there, the artist revealed in an interview with the Philadelphia Daily News. Philadelphia area painter Nelson Shanks cunningly included a shadow over the fireplace cast from a blue dress on a mannequin.

 

Shanks said painting Clinton was his hardest assignment because “he is probably the most famous liar of all time.” So he added the nod to the Lewinsky scandal because it had cast a shadow over Clinton’s presidency.

 

“He and his administration did some very good things, of course,” Shanks said, “but I could never get this Monica thing completely out of my mind, and it is subtly incorporated in the painting.” He told the Daily News:

 

Shanks did not reveal this nine years ago when the portrait was unveiled. But perhaps now we could read between the lines of what he did say.

If you look at the left-hand side of it there’s a mantle in the Oval Office and I put a shadow coming into the painting and it does two things. It actually literally represents a shadow from a blue dress that I had on a mannequin, that I had there while I was painting it, but not when he was there. It is also a bit of a metaphor in that it represents a shadow on the office he held, or on him.

 

 

“I think the painting really feels like Bill Clinton,” he said then, according to The Washington Post. “It has — I would not call it swagger. . . . What? An informality? A looseness, a relaxed nature.”

 

Shanks alluded in the interview with the Daily News that Bill and Hillarious Clinton are aware of the symbolism in the painting.

“And so the Clintons hate the portrait,” he said. He said they wanted it taken down.

 

A Clinton spokesman refused to comment.

 

Update: The portrait was taken down about three years ago but had previously hung in the museum since its debut in 2006, a National Portrait Gallery spokeswoman told the Loop. She said the Clintons had not asked for it to be removed. Portraits are often rotated in and out of the “America’s Presidents” exhibits.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2015/03/02/portrait-artist-says-he-painted-lewinsky-reference-in-bill-clintons-official-painting/?postshare=7331425317830884

[chess]

............."AS TO NEVER FORGET"...............

[Markinsa]

His wedding band is missing too.

 

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[Shabibilicious]

Monica's shadow appears to be in much better shape than Monica.    

 

GO RV, then BV

[Saint]

That has always amused me that this was intentionally done. You have to love your artist. Name association Bill Clinton / Monica Lewinsky 

[Shabibilicious]

Is that a stain on her shadow?    

 

GO RV, then BV

[Jaxinjersey]

Hmmmm... looks like Bubba's thrusting a bit in that direction! 

[Whatshername]

I think the artist filled this portrait with more hidden stuff...

 

1. You can only see one of her arms because she's stuffing Altoids in her mouth with her other hand!

 

2.  That plant where her head would be... not a philodendron but sprigs of peppermint right off the tin...

 

 

3.  Pleats had to be added to Bill's pants to cover up that tent he was always pitching!

 

4.  That's really a copy of the Starr Report he's holding in his right hand!

 

 

  That's as clean as I can make it!!!  Did I miss anything? 

[RV ME]

Is that a stain on her shadow?    

 

GO RV, then BV

The only stain that remains is the one on Bill’s Presidency, and that is permanent.

[Shabibilicious]

The only stain that remains is the one on Bill’s Presidency, and that is permanent.

 

True enough.......Mrs. Clinton will restore their presidential credentials.    

 

GO RV, then BV

[dog53]

ahhh  the presidential painting has a stain on it does it.  

if you look real close at the shadows of fireplace poker I can see a cigar too.  

[Shabibilicious]

ahhh  the presidential painting has a stain on it does it.  

if you look real close at the shadows of fireplace poker I can see a cigar too.  

 

Thank goodness Bill didn't mount Monica over the fireplace.............or did he?     

 

GO RV, then BV

[DiveDeepSix]

Ok, since I'm here anyway in tropical Minnesota Viking land!

 

What does Aaron Rodgers from the Packers and Monica have in common?   

 

They both take a knee when they see a purple helmet coming!!!     

Edited March 3, 2015 by DiveDeepSix

[Whatshername]

That's a cocksure pose!  Just for fun, lets put thoughts in his head... 

 

[Shabibilicious]

That's a cocksure pose!  Just for fun, lets put thoughts in his head... 

 

 

"It's Cuban, try it.........and after we'll share a cigar"    

 

GO RV, then BV

[Whatshername]

I'm reminded of the hilarious Dave Chappelle in Killing Them Softly joking about how famous Clinton was... Nobody has a pickup line this good...  

"Suck my @#&€... there's a future in it!"  

[Shabibilicious]

"This is not a tie.....it's an arrow"    

 

GO RV, then BV

[Whatshername]

"I did NOT have sexual relations with that shadow... of Ms Lewinsky!"

[Whatshername]

Bill Clinton Portrait Currently in Storage, Where It Will Remain "For Quite Some Time"

 

The National Portrait Gallery is not currently displaying the Nelson Shanks painting of President Bill Clinton that made headlines recently when Shanks revealed he put a hidden Monica Lewinsky reference into the portrait.

 

"The work by Shanks is in storage," Bethany Bentley, head of communications at the gallery, tells The Hollywood Reporter. "The portrait has been off view in the museum since 2009."

 

Is this all a Clinton-spiracy? Was it taken down, banished from public view because of the blue dress shadow that Shanks painted into the portrait?

 

Not according to Bentley. She said the museum was first made aware of the reference when Philly.com published their interview with Shanks this week, six years after the painting was put in storage. "It was rotated off view as we are now displaying a loaned work of Clinton in the exhibition about America’s presidents," says Bentley. 

 

The Clinton painting that is currently on view is by artist Chuck Close and is on loan from owners Ian and Annette Cumming. The Shanks portrait is one of 10 formal posed portraits of Clinton that the National Portrait Gallery owns. There are 55 Clinton images in total, including drawings, caricatures and covers of magazines.

 

Photo Credit: "William Jefferson Clinton" by Chuck Close, oil on canvas, 2006. Lent by Ian and Annette Cumming © Chuck Close

 

Bentley says they rotate the official portraits of the presidents and decide which one to use when they rehang the gallery. "Right now we don’t have plans to rehang the gallery for quite some time, so we have not made any selections for what will or will not go up," says Bentley. She said nobody has pressured them to remove the Shanks painting from the selection process. 

 

When asked if she thinks the Lewinsky reference will affect any future decision to hang the painting, Bentley replied, "I can’t speculate on what will go up on view. The decision is made by our curatorial staff and each piece is considered carefully."

 

President Clinton, Hillarious Clinton and Shanks could not be reached for comment.

 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bill-clinton-portrait-storage-will-779163

[umbertino]

Giving somebody a clinton.....

[Shabibilicious]

Shanks is brilliant......the price of his painting will skyrocket.  Though I believe him, he could be making the whole thing up.    

 

GO RV, then BV