Painting for Posterity

0 Comments | Insight on the News, April 5, 1999 | by Patrick Butters

The oil paintings of former presidents range from stuffy studies to colorful interpretations. But if a portrait is done well, a president's character can leap from the canvas.

The great ones need no help. Gilbert Stuart's portrait of George Washington stands tall in the East Room, the first president extending his right hand as if beckoning his beloved countrymen. (Trumpets, please.) G.P.A. Healy's portrait of Abraham Lincoln depicts the Great Emancipator sitting, right elbow on crossed legs, hand to bearded chin, pondering the Civil War. Standing or seated, the presidents of the United States at one time or another pose for an official oil portrait that captures (or fails to capture) their character for posterity.

"They do become well-known through photographs," says White House curator Betty Monkman. "What we look for is that they convey some sense of the person, and that's hard for artists today to do."

But even average presidents do well under the proper artist. Healy's portrait of John Tyler is considered the finest of the seven he did for the White House -- there's drama in Tyler's Roman profile. The paper he clutches, dealing with the annexation of Texas, "evokes a feeling of his time," says Monkman.

Portraits of recent presidents line the walls of the first floor of the White House. Herbert Abrams' 1995 depiction of George Bush hangs in the North Entrance Hall, for example. The Warren, Conn., artist also painted Jimmy Carter, the likeness considered the best of the moderns. Carter's hands are folded, as in prayer, as he sits in a French mahogany armchair from the Red Room.

The portrait of John F. Kennedy takes center stage, however, positioned next to the landing leading to the family quarters. Rendered in 1970 by Aaron Shikler, the painting presents JFK with folded arms and downcast eyes.

"It's a beautiful portrait that has gotten a lot of comment from the public, because his head is sort of bowed," Monkman says. "The artist said he definitely wanted to portray him as a thinking president. With the muted colors, it's a very sensitive painting."

Everett Raymond Kinstler's painting of Ronald Reagan, impressionistic in color and tone, captures his upbeat persona, as does the artist's image of Gerald Ford, which shows him crossed-legged, the ever-present pipe in his lap. His blue-gray pinstripe suit, black-and-white tie and blue shirt add a vibrancy overlooked by the media and polls.

Kinstler also has painted a portrait of President Clinton that hangs in the Yale Club in New York. "The Clintons have looked at portfolios," Monkman says, "but they have not made any decision to sit. We would hope they would do that [before they leave office] if their schedules permit."

The president may select an artist from lists provided by the curator and other sources, such as the National Portrait Gallery. The White House Historical Association usually pays for the work--although the Reagan and Bush portraits were donated privately. The allowance for the Clinton portrait is $20,000, plus frame and expenses.

Most presidents have considered sitting for a portrait a burden. Stuart remarked that Washington was friendly but bored when he posed for his famous portrait in 1795. The first president seemed resigned to the constant requests for sittings. "I am so hackneyed to the touches of the painter's pencil that I am altogether at their beck," he once wrote, "and sit like Patience on a monument, whilst they are delineating the lines of my face." (An exhibit of 25 images of George and Martha Washington is on display at the National Portrait Gallery.)

In the old days, posing for the presidential portrait took precedence. John Singer Sargent, in fact, dragged Theodore Roosevelt all over the White House in 1903 to find the perfect light or best setting. Finally, an exasperated Roosevelt slapped his hand on a banister, declaring he had had enough. "Hold it!" exclaimed Sargent. The rest is art history.

It's hard to imagine a chief executive finding time to pose for an official portrait. But onetime farmer Harry Truman, acquainted with the virtue of patience, sat for Austrian native Greta Kempton five times in 1947--the year of the Marshall Plan, the Truman Doctrine and the Taft-Hartley Act.

On the other hand, Lyndon Baines Johnson didn't hit it off with artist Peter Hurd and disliked his portrait. "It's the ugliest thing I ever saw," LBJ said, to which Hurd responded, "Men are much vainer than women." The Hurd portrait hangs in the National Portrait Gallery's Hall of Presidents.

J. Anthony Wills painted Dwight Eisenhower in 1967, six years after he left office. The amazingly realistic portrait shows Ike sitting sideways in his chair, his right arm resting on the back, a pair of spectacles dangling from his fingers.

"Ideally, you would like it to be around the period of presidency" says Ellen Miles, curator at the National Portrait Gallery. "I think in practical terms, it's hard to convince the president to sit down in the beginning of office. He's spending much more energy on his agenda and what he wants to get done."