Obamas Invest in Art for White House from Black Artist… Painting Is Plagiarized from Matisse’s “The Snail”
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on November 5, 2009
Watusi (Hard Edge) by Alma Thomas... a Matisse ripoff
No matter how it is rotated, I can’t believe POTUS and FLOTUS thought this was such an incredible piece of art that it had to be hung in the White House. My son did something like this in kindergarten… his use of colors was much better than those used in this painting, IMO. Couldn’t they ask one of the two Obama daughters to whip up something just as creative (and far less expensive) with scissors and colored tissue paper?
And now, some months later, that Watusi (Hard Edge) by Alma Thomas has been proven to be a wacky, 90-degree rotated ripoff of Henri Matisse’s 1953 painting The Snail, I think having an arts-and-craft session with Sasha and Malia would be a terrific idea.
Ben Shapiro, Big Hollywood: The Obama White House’s Plagiaristic, Silly Art
Yes, it is boring and banal. It does look like your three-year-old’s recent construction paper cut-out from pre-school – the one she made with the rounded scissors. It’s Watusi (Hard Edge), by black painter Alma Thomas.
Pop on over to Ben’s article at Big Hollywood to see the two paintings, and then his rotation of the Watusi painting, flush up against The Snail.
Hilarious ripoff. How could no one notice this before the purchase? And, will artiste/forger Alma be returning the money she took for her colossal ripoff? I believe we all paid for this with our taxes, so, America should demand a full refund. And maybe a bit extra beyond the refund, just for the audacity of her charade.
Thanks for the guffaw, Ben.
Word is that Watusi (Hard Edge) has been removed from the White House walls.
More from Ben on the painting’s removal in a follow-up post, White House Painting: Obama Throws Artist Under the Bus:
According to Semonti Stephens, Michelle Obama’s deputy press secretary, the painting was moved “because it didn’t fit the space right.”
The White House explicitly denied that the painting was being removed because of its obvious similarity to the Matisse piece. And the Washington Post writers cover for the White House in typical press lackey fashion:
Stephens’s explanation makes sense because it is inconceivable that the White House’s art experts would imagine Thomas’s painting was fraudulent or a copy … Elaborations on earlier artists’ work, even full appropriation, have been common practice in art for hundreds of years.
Right. And Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services because Obama didn’t like his red glasses. It had nothing to do with his tax cheating.
Since when does the White House announce when it moves art? They don’t issue a press release every time they replace a painting. In fact, the White House didn’t announce when it sent a bust of Winston Churchill back to Britain – the media had to find out on its own. This is a clear response to the Big Hollywood piece, as well as scrutiny from other diligent bloggers like Michelle Malkin.
They don’t have any DC art experts that are asked to step in for a quick lookover before a work of art is purchased for the White House? Sounds like major ball-dropping to me. Rahm, take a note on that.
Now, if George W. Bush had bought a plagiarized painting for the White House, the American public would have been notified posthaste by the media about it. FOR DAYS. Maybe months…
More reading:
Michelle Malkin: Do the Watusi: Art, imitation, and the Obamas
Free Republic: NYT Touts White House Artworks, Misses Obvious Copy, Apparent Fraud (Freeper Breaks the Story)
Jezebel: Art In America: Painting Gets Pulled From White House Following Furor
Stage Right, Big Hollywood: Shepard Fairey’s Piracy: Rank Hypocrisy in the Art Community
Back Of The Canvas: Matisse’s l’Escargot vs. Alma Thomas’ Watusi
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Have to agree with the general consensus on this one. The White House should have gone with a Mondrian or at least a Mark Rothko. – Russ