Mystery solved: the Ode To Darwin original by William Holbrook Beard (painted 1891)

by Jack Brummet

This is a painting I bought for $100 at a roadside stand in Jensen Beach, FLA in 2006 (It cost $150 to ship it home in its delicate, ornate frame). The painting is titled "Ode To Darwin" and was painted by David Zarkin.

The mystery of its origins was solved last night by an intrepid member of the Facebook Lowbrowart group, Jon Groobz  (see details below).

Detail:

The original canvas, titled "The Discovery of Adam," was painted by William Holbrook Beard in 1891 (30 years after Darwin published his famous book).  There is a good web site here with this and some other paintings (he was a fascinating painter).  The painting 

The painting I own is an amazing copy of this original, but I know no details of the painter at all or how or where he copied this work.  Here is the original, which resides at the Toledo Museum of Art.

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Richard Fong's amazing painting of Ronald Reagan (ca. 1984)

by Jack Brummet

In 1984, Richard Fong, a friend, co-worker, and San Francisco artist, gave me this oil painting.  We'd spent the election making twisted collages of Ronald Reagan and the Administration (to the chagrin of the owner of the commercial real estate appraiser's office where we worked).

It has hung on the wall everywhere I've lived since.  What I love most about this painting is that it captures the soul of Ronald Reagan, but also adds in—somehow!—a touch of Richard Nixon.  Other people, unprompted, have noticed this too.  It's been an inspiration for some 30 years now, and I've always been grateful for the gift.  Every time I look at it I remember Richard.

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A John Peers clown painting (probably of Emmett Kelly) I bought years ago at a junk store

By Jack Brummet, Outsider Art Ed.

I know a lot of people don't like clowns. I'm pretty neutral on clowns (except maybe John Wayne Gacy). I bought this oil for $5 about 20 years ago at a junk/antique store on Lake City Way (it's about 2'x3'). I did some searching and found out the  artist is John Peers, a somewhat well-known painter of clowns. 

"This is Famous Bohemian San Francisco gallery artist (of the time) PEERS, from the 1950's. My mother and father both knew this man and he painted many paintings for them. I still have some of the nicest ones." Someone else: "Peers lived in South San Francisco and liked to drink. He was a friend of my Uncle Giovanni and should be about 75-80 is he is still alive. He would go to bard on Third Street (near Candlestick Park) and sell those clown paintings for $25.  My Uncle has 3 and they are rather good." 

I think the subject of the painting is Emmett Kelly who was a kind of hobo/clown amalgam (like Red Skelton)?

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Norman Rockwell's portrait of President Richard M. Nixon

By Pablo Fanque, Nat. Affairs Ed.

There is something kind of bizarre about Norman Rockwell's portrait of President Richard M. Nixon.  It feels like he captured the real essence of. . .someone else.

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The complete (so far) painting oeuvre of George W. Bush (24 paintings and counting)

By Jack Brummet, Painting and American Art History Ed.

As you have possibly read, a hacker--Guccifer--purloined these photographs of Ex-President George W. Bush and his paintings by hacking into the Bush family's email.  He originally furnished the stolen photos to The Smoking Gun and recently, to Gawker.  Three batches have been released so far.  We already knew a little about POTUS 43's painting from his art teacher's website and interviews.

Guccifer hacked the accounts of Dorothy Bush Koch and at least five others with close ties to the Bush dynasty. To highlight his brilliance, he furnished The Smoking Gun with a series of paintings  by Ex-President George W. Bush.  He also included a string of emails about Bush’s ailing father, POTUS 41. And, this week, he sent along to Gawker a new batch of photos of Dubyah's oil paintings. 

A scary dog behind bars with a prospect of the White House

In a package on Georgia’s WAGA-TV, Bush 43’s art teacher, Bonnie Flood, said the president regularly opts to draw household pets.

“He started off painting dogs. I think he said he painted 50 dogs,” Flood said. “He pulled out this canvas and started painting dogs and I thought, ‘Oh my God, I don’t paint dogs!”

Cats, dogs, and a still life

a photo of the President's painting of his recently deceased dog Barney

The artist at work, painting a church

Self portrait in the shower

Bathtub self-portrait

Twelve photos of paintings that Guccifer gave to Gawker

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