An inspiring sight!

The gown (in the painting) is thought to be a nod to Milly's support of Planned Parenthood. — Cavacava

In what way???

However. This image seems to be a little better. — charleton

The image you posted is better.

They seem only a bunch of closely-packed leaves, curiously unattached to any tree. — Ciceronianus the White

A hedge, perhaps, and not a tree.

but portraits are more about getting at something deeper about the person than mere physical resemblance. — Baden

What has been gotten at in the hideous portrait of HMQEII?

Harper's Bazaar:

Milly is a fitting choice for Obama's portrait wardrobe, not only because it matches her fresh yet approachable style, but also because the designer is similarly passionate about women's rights and female empowerment.

Smith has been a Planned Parenthood supporter for years and even designed a T-shirt to benefit the organization last fall. Her Fall 2017 collection, presented in the wake of the 2016 election, was about rising up from a dark, "fractured" place. Even her Fall 2018 collection, which debuted last week, was inspired by "love, inclusiveness and the desire for equality."

I am still thinking about Obama's portrait...it may become an excellent meme

What has been gotten at in the hideous portrait of HMQEII? — Bitter Crank

Not sure. I'm presuming it's not an accident that she looks like that though. Maybe there's a joke in there somewhere?

What Freud did, of course, as regular users of this site will recognize, was paint the Queen as his alter ego, giving her his eyebrows, his small eyes, his deep facial folds and, most oddly, his brick-like chin. Painted, of course, in his characteristic style, the Queen is Freud. Other masters, from Fouquet in the 15th century onwards, have done likewise. Royalty in almost all spiritual traditions is a symbol of purity that artists use as they see fit. Freud here, like his predecessors, has depicted his monarch as the monarch in his mind.

Et voilà.

[Delete] @Baden

Donald — René Descartes

He's fingering the wrong anatomical part if his bus-bragging is anything to go on.

[Delete] @Baden

No. Not a huge fan of Caravaggio, except his St. Jerome and St. Francis.

A hedge, perhaps, and not a tree. — Bitter Crank

Is the hedge significant to Obama?
Maybe because he spent 8 years hedging his bets?

The light is sublime, in that Caravaggio.

What Freud did, of course, as regular users of this site will recognize,

This is just the ordinary failing of any artist who tends to base their idea of what a face is upon the thing they see in the mirror. There is nothing special here. Fraud painted himself most of the time.

Judith's expression is just too dumb on this one. — Akanthinos

There is more craft, skill and sensitivity on this tiny part of the Caravaggio than on all the other posted images thus far.
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/330592428871267531/?lp=true

The gown (in the painting) is thought to be a nod to Milly's support of Planned Parenthood.
— Cavacava

In what way??? — Bitter Crank

No one would be able to navigate through that mess of cloth to impregnant her?

...

I think we have a pretty good idea.




https://pmchollywoodlife.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/donald-trump-appears-to-scare-the-life-out-of-melania-in-viral-inauguration-ftr.jpg?w=148&h=90&crop=1

[Delete] @Baden

Already been done., before the sculpture.
The artist was beaten-up by Trumpers.



https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/07/donald-trump-penis-painting-ilma-gore

[Delete] @Baden

Coincidentally, I'm in Washington for my step-mother's birthday. Before we went to dinner last night, we stopped off at the Smithsonian portrait gallery.

Did you like it? Also, the photos look like it is very flat and smoothly painted is that the case?

Most portraits like this are pretty unimaginative and bland. Staid. She's a very stylish person. I would imagine a pose like that would be unsatisfying. In the portrait, she looks serious, dignified. I like her and her husband. I have nothing against the portrait.

As Charles Montgomery Burns once said "I don't know art, but I know what I hate, and I don't hate that."