LOL @1. Seriously? It is one of the most boring portraits I've ever seen. Nobody outside of Boehner's immediate family would care about this portrait at all—indeed the portrait would not exist at all—if Boehner hadn't been Speaker of the House. Talking about the portrait without making mention of its subject is utterly pointless.

So trash away! Boehner may have been more polite and soft spoken than the Orange Shitgibbon currently occupying the White House, but he nevertheless backed all the worst policies of the Republican Party.

@1: What point is there in that? It has golden light, and a soft focus (on the closer arm of the chair, oddly). It's utterly inoffensive and rendered well enough that he's identifiable, but so generic as to be leached of any truth. Nothing about it sets it apart from the countless, identical portraits of other politicians that already exist. In short, it looks like Thomas Kinkade made it.

The only reason it exists is BECAUSE the subject is who he is. Or, rather, was. Before he became another statistic of soulless politician-turned-lobbyist-ghoul.

Back in the 90's (or was it the 80's?) I spent some time in Minneapolis, and had a temp job at Betty Crocker (a division of General Mills!). The lobby had oil paintings of all the renderings of Betty through the years. This painting of Boehner reminds me of those.

@4 That sounds more amazing than it probably actually is.

I stand corrected, totally amazing but in some meta way I can't put my finger on.
https://walkerart.org/minnesotabydesign/objects/betty-crocker

Needs a cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other. Then it would be the true John Boehner.

I think I was actually some sort of lab rat for them. Nominally, I was there to input data on instant mashed potato sales into a new-fangled thing called a spreadsheet (fun fact: Instant mashed potatoes sold best on military bases, and in the south). But they were just launching a fruit juice-ish drink (which probably contained no fruit) in whimsical plastic bottles. They kept trying to force it on me. It was kind of creepy (General Mills as a whole is kind of creepy), and being a Polite Iowa Boy, I kept accepting it and pouring it into the giant Ficus plant I was sitting next to. I wonder what happened to that plant.....

With all that said, Betty Crocker was a class act - from the paintings in the lobby, to the pristine demonstration kitchens, to the stately dining room with Chippendale furniture and lovely views of the front lawns. Most impressive of all were the women who ran the joint. Gracious, well-coiffed, well-dressed, middle-aged ladies who you just knew you didn't want to mess with.

The portrait is fine. No one will pick it out from the rest in 40 years

Why does this portrait gallery exist? Who goes there?

It's already difficult to imagine something that sucks more than Boehner, so I'll say the portrait is easily less offensive than the character.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnn.........

@2 Reverse Polarity, @3 Knat, and @12 anon1256: Agreed and seconded.
Catalina hasn't said it yet, so I will: this image is just another blatant reminder that RepubliKKKans are horrible people.

Aww, he looks like he's about to offer us a Werthers caramel.

next time you profile one of these celebrity portraits it would be fun to see you go all in and gush over it, just for s & g.
"The warm brown leather is a signifier for his toughness and survival mentality. Here is the dynamic man, a man of will and purpose, safely at repose, comfortable in his own skin."
You know, shit like that.
Maybe for April Fools Day. just a thought.

*post contains no actual art criticism.

2, #3, #4, #8, and #14...you’re all proof that the portrait doesn’t suck.

@16
And your post contains no actual arguments, merely unsubstantiated assertions.

See? Two can play. This is fun!