Chancellor Schröder's portrait by Jörg Immendorff
Bill Clinton's portrait by Simmie Knox
I think we can argue that the Germans are a bit more adventurous when it comes to official portraits. Chancellor Schröder's portrait is by Jörg Immendorff. This English translation of an article from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung describes it.
Niklas Maak has had a look at at Jörg Immendorff's official portrait of ex-chancellor Gerhard Schröder. The portrait, executed by the ailing artist with the help of assistants (see our features on Immendorff here and here), has Schröder looking gold-plated: "Never has a chancellor's portrait looked so emperor-like, so Bismarckian, and immensely powerful as in Immendorff's Schröder. Schröder issued in new policies and new images, the portrait announces, showing not the man but the icon, the iron media chancellor, the ruler transformed as image. Yet the picture has some peculiar elements and an unparalleled iconographic programme, as if Schröder's chancellorship needed explaning. A horde of monkeys cavort round his shoulders. Immendorff says he painted them as an homage to the chancellor, who 'did a lot for artists.'"
[Schröder image from faz.net and Clinton image from simmieknox.com]
self portrait painting
Theyre both excellent for me. Each has its own style. The first one looks like the artist went beyond the basic and was so adventurous enough to go beyond the usual. The second portrait, on the other hand, looks simpler but still fantastic. It has captured the real face and personality of former President Clinton. I therefore think that each is marvelous in its own right and that theres no need for comparison.