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Nine rather disturbing political portraits
Yesterday, a former Lib Dem spad tweeted a photograph of himself holding a rather interesting painting of Vince Cable.
It instantly sparked some debate about whether Cable was readying himself for a Lib Dem take-over with propaganda-style artworks, (he was in China last week after all).
As we later found out though, the propaganda-meets-pop art portrait was a leaving gift for said spad, Giles Wilkes, rather than something the Business Secretary had commissioned for the halls of parliament.
@t0nyyates all i can say is these giant Mao-esque pictures were made for a reason pic.twitter.com/1ZaFYq9r6d
— Giles Wilkes (@Gilesyb) June 2, 2014
Peculiar political portraits are no rare thing – artists paint incredibly odd likenesses of the world’s leaders all the time. Much to our amusement.
Here are just a few of our favourites:
1. Russian police tried to get rid of this portrait of Putin and his prime minister Dmitry Medvedev in ladies undies. It didn't work.
(Source: Getty)
2. Illustrator Daniel Olivier-Argyle's impression of Boris Johnson suspended from a zip wire is gold.
(Source: Daniel Olivier-Argyle)
3. How about this lovely graffiti depicting Putin as a Jedi.
(Source: Getty)
4. Who can forget artist Kaya Mar's many depictions of George Osborne.
(Source: Kaya Mar)
5. Here's another one for good measure…
Artist Kaya Mar with his painting of the Chancellor, 2012 (Source: Getty)
6. This is Barack Obama fashioned out of buttons and other flotsam – created by Exeter-based artist Jane Perkins. Not disturbing really, just cool.
7. You'll love it or hate it – here's David Cameron's portrait made from toast and marmite by artist Dermot Flynn.
(Source: Getty)
8. A third entry for Putin here but we can't help it, he's funny. That's Van Gough on the left. We're unsure why Putin is blue.
(Source: Getty)
9. And last but not least, our favourite – Kim Jong-il in a ballgown by artist Michael Caines
