--- title: George W. Bush Reveals Paintings On NBC Today Show description: The former President-turned-artist has entered his "world leader period" with portraits of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he reveals once "dissed" his dog Barney. They were made in the “spirit of friendship," Bush says canonical: https://time.com/49844/george-w-bush-unveils-new-collection-of-paintings/ author: Alex Rogers article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-04T15:51:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T08:52:32.027Z article:section: Politics og:title: George W. Bush Reveals Paintings On NBC Today Show og:description: The former President-turned-artist has entered his "world leader period" with portraits of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he reveals once "dissed" his dog Barney. They were made in the “spirit of friendship," Bush says og:url: https://time.com/49844/george-w-bush-unveils-new-collection-of-paintings/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b1dc12c972d490f/698688fa810bbb6d69c90dcc/time-a-bush-paintings-putin-140404.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: A portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin, painted by former U.S. President George W. Bush, is displayed at "The Art of Leadership: A President's Personal Diplomacy" exhibit in Dallas og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: George W. Bush Reveals Paintings On NBC Today Show twitter:description: The former President-turned-artist has entered his "world leader period" with portraits of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he reveals once "dissed" his dog Barney. They were made in the “spirit of friendship," Bush says twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b1dc12c972d490f/698688fa810bbb6d69c90dcc/time-a-bush-paintings-putin-140404.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # George W. Bush Unveils New Collection of Paintings > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=66f4b60a-20d5-4bd3-bd07-2fca3a4f5b09&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President George W. Bush's World Leader Paintings Revealed [Watch (HLS stream): President George W. Bush's World Leader Paintings Revealed](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Ga6pLqOA.m3u8) (1:46)  _Published 2014-04-04. George W. Bush unveiled his very own art exhibit at his presidential library in Dallas on the Today's show Friday morning._ by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Apr 4, 2014 3:51 PM UTC by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Apr 4, 2014 3:51 PM UTC George W. Bush: from Governor, to President, and now Painter. In his laid-back life since leaving the Oval office in 2009, No. 43 has occasionally piqued the public’s interest with his portraits, and on Friday, NBC highlighted a new exhibit in Bush’s presidential library, “The Art of Leadership: A President’s Personal Diplomacy.” Sitting down with his daughter and NBC correspondent Jenna Bush Hager, Bush displayed his paintings of world leaders, including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Dalai Lama, who have yet to see his new series. “I think they’re going to \[say\], ‘Wow. George Bush is a painter,'” said Bush, 67, of his subjects. “I mean, I’m sure when they heard that I was painting—and if they had—they’re going to say, ‘Wow. I look forward to seeing a stick figure he painted of me.'” Bush hopes that they take their portraits “in the spirit in which these were painted in,” which he says was a “spirit of friendship.” “And you know, I admire them as leaders and was willing to give it a shot in terms of getting people to see how I felt about them,” he added. But the former president had few kind words to say about Putin, whom he revealed had criticized his dog Barney. “I introduced him to Putin; Putin kind of dissed him,” Bush said to his daughter. “‘You call that a dog?’ A year later, your mom and I go to visit Vladimir at his Dacha outside of Moscow and he says, ‘Would you like to meet my dog?’ Out bounds this huge hound, obviously much bigger than a Scottish Terrier. And Putin looks at me and says, ‘Bigger, stronger and faster than Barney.’” A year ago, hackers leaked a somewhat shocking line of Bush self-portraits, one of which could be called “Toes in the Tub.” Bush told his daughter that he was annoyed at the invasion of privacy, but proud of the work. “I did \[it\] because I wanted to kind of shock my instructor,” he said. “But I also thought, you know, I wanted to learn about painting water hitting water. And it kind of shows my sense of humor, I think.” ## Transcript Monet, Picasso, Michaelangelo, W? George W Bush unveiled his very own art exhibit, at his presidential library in Dallas, on the Today Show Friday morning. He revealed the paintings during an interview with his daughter Jenna Bush Hager. This artist says his exhibit, filled with paintings, photos and mementos is about friendship as it is about art. And each portrait aims to capture the unique personalities with whom he served. Despite the attention he received last year, when a hacker revealed some of his earlier works that were mostly of family pets and himself in a bathtub, the paintings in this exhibit are of other world leaders. The exhibit is called, The Art of Leadership: A President's Personal Diplomacy. And it featured 24 portraits of world leaders he'd worked with including Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin. In the segment, Bush revealed his favorite portrait is one of his father which his mother joked about, saying that's my husband? KERA's tongue in cheek headline reads, the artist formerly known as President George W Bush. And that pretty much sums up how some people feel about our 43rd president's pastime. But, people have started to come around. And much of the attention turned from skeptical to pleasantly surprised. Even Obama's press secretary Jay Carney had nice things to say. I mean, I'm no, I'm a, I'm a lay person. I'm not a, an art expert, but I, I, I'm pretty impressed by, by former presidents work. The former president has been good natured about it all, saying it's important to keep learning in life, and that painting, opened a whole new world. I, I love to paint. It is, painting has changed my life in an unbelievably positive way. Look, the signature is more valuable than the painting. [ LAUGH ] Coincidentally, the president signs all of his paintings 43. Thanks for watching, I'm Megan Judy. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/49844/george-w-bush-unveils-new-collection-of-paintings/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/49844/george-w-bush-unveils-new-collection-of-paintings/"},"headline":"George W. 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