--- description: Art critics point out that 30 of the former president's portraits appear to come from casual online searches title: George W Bush Paintings: World Leader Portraits Based On Google Images image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b1dc12c972d490f/698688fa810bbb6d69c90dcc/time-a-bush-paintings-putin-140404.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # George W. Bush's Paintings of World Leaders Appear to Be Based On Good Ol' Google Searches by [Samantha Grossman](/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 9, 2014 4:16 PM CUT  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 at the Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas, April 4, 2014. 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 at the Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas, April 4, 2014.Brandon Wade—Reuters by [Samantha Grossman](/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 9, 2014 4:16 PM CUT Last week, former President George W. Bush [unveiled a new collection of paintings](http://time.com/49844/george-w-bush-unveils-new-collection-of-paintings/ "undefined"), featuring a series of portraits of world leaders, from Vladimir Putin to the Dalai Lama. The inspiration for many of these paintings appears to come from some very casual Google searches. Art critic Greg Allen pointed out this trend in [a blog post](http://greg.org/archive/2014/04/06/art%5Fof%5Fthe%5Fbush%5Fschool.html "undefined"), emphasizing the fact that Bush didn’t take advantage of the many resources available to him: --- > “” --- The portrait of Vladimir Putin seen above, for example, seems to be based on the very first image that pops up [when you Google](https://www.google.com/search?q=vladimir+putin&oq=vladimir+putin&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j5j0.1306j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 "undefined") the Russian leader’s name. Similarly, Bush’s portrait of Israeli politician Ehud Olmert appears to be based on one of the[ top Google search results ](https://www.google.com/search?q=ehud+olmert&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=A2VFU86BIqmE0AHNxIDoCw&ved=0CAkQ%5FAUoAg&biw=1789&bih=896 "undefined")for his name:  A portrait of Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister of Israel, painted by former president George W. Bush. Stewart F. House—Getty Images The takeaway here? Even George W. Bush relies on Google and Wikipedia to get his work done. Former presidents: they’re just like us! (h/t [_The Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/09/george-bushs-paintings-bear-uncanny-resemblance-to-google-images "undefined")) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/55491/george-w-bush-paintings-google-images/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/55491/george-w-bush-paintings-google-images/"},"headline":"George W. Bush's Paintings of World Leaders Appear to Be Based On Good Ol' Google Searches","datePublished":"2014-04-09T16:16:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:48:43.977Z","description":"Art critics point out that 30 of the former president's portraits appear to come from casual online searches","url":"https://time.com/55491/george-w-bush-paintings-google-images/","keywords":["Newsfeed","politics","Google","George W. Bush","Art","Arts","Presidents"],"thumbnailUrl":"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=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"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=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"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","caption":"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","creditText":"Brandon Wade—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/55491/george-w-bush-paintings-google-images/","name":"George W. Bush's Paintings of World Leaders Appear to Be Based On Good Ol' Google Searches"}}]}] ```