Presidents Day 2019

This is the time of year in the United States when we celebrate what has come to be called Presidents Day. When growing up, we loved February because of two holidays--Lincoln's Birthday on February 12 and Washington's Birthday on February 22. Each of these was a national holiday. Today though, we celebrate one holiday on the third Monday of February and although we call it Presidents Day, in legal fact it is the celebration of George Washington's Birthday. The act was intended to give federal employees more weekday holidays, hence the Monday designation.

"Portrait of Lincoln, 1950," oil on panel, 2010

Abraham Lincoln's birthday has been a state holiday but not a federal one, as it happens. Nonetheless, when you think about it, it's possible that without his presidency the United States as we know it would not exist. That seems enough reason to honor the man from Illinois who rose from a frontier cabin to be President. He presided over perhaps the greatest turmoil ever experienced by this country, with the possible exception of World War II and kept the nation together. How would he view the turmoil of our country today?

Here is an oil portrait of Mr. Lincoln, done a few years ago in monochrome (based on an early photograph). Any time I paint a portrait the main goal is a good likeness. But in my view it's important to try to go deeper and capture something of the man himself. Any time you try to draw or paint someone as famous as Mr. Lincoln your chances of going wrong are enormous, but in this case his deep well of sadness seemed to show.

"George Washington," oil on panel, 2017

Regarding George Washington, whose birthday is actually being celebrated on Presidents Day, here is a portrait of the man himself. This is an oil sketch on panel, done from the Houdon bust that was executed during his lifetime. The idea again was to try to capture an expression--in this case mostly exasperation.

Like Mr. Lincoln, without George Washington the United States as we know it wouldn't exist. Not only was he the commander of the Continental Army that (with the help of France) defeated the British and assured our independence, but as the first U.S. President he set the tone for all. That included refusing to run for more than two terms--a tradition that was eventually broken and later became a constitutional amendment--refusing all titles and denying those who might have declared him king or emperor. In his view there was no room for royalty or pretension to it in this new nation. His presidency was also one of dignity and probity, and he retired quietly. One wonders these days what Mr. Washington would think of our politics and our lack of political decorum.

Happy Presidents Day anyway.