We're an eBay affiliate and may be compensated on purchases made through clicks.

Art and Autographs -- The George W. Bush and Julia Louis-Dreyfus Edition

Lots of people collect autographs of the Presidents. There are lots of things you have to watch out for – secretary, autopen, etc. Oh, there’s also the guy that bought an autographed picture of the White House, signed by Presidents, Vice Presidents, First Ladies…yet the charity selling it got it from Charity Fundraising Packages – which deals in forged items.

That being said, the presidential collectors must be jonesing to get their hands on one of George W. Bush’s paintings. The 43^rd president said in an interview recently, “I tell people that the signature on my paintings is worth more than the paintings.”

He signs it with a simple “43,” but I think he should’ve just signed it “W” – like the bumper stickers all had. Or, what Michael Jordan does. Charles Barkley told me that he signs just his initials “MJ” but he makes it look like the number “23.” I could easily see how the “3” in “43” could’ve been a “W” – and he’d get them both in there.

As of now, the paintings haven’t gone up for sale. That tops the painting Jimmy Carter did that went for $250,000 at a charity auction.

Dwight Eisenhower and Winston Churchill were also known to paint, but I’ve never heard of any of their paintings selling in any auctions.

Vladimir Putin was a painter, and once sold a painting of one of his dogs to a Russian oligarch for over $1 million.

Putin is also one of the portraits W painted. There’s also German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the Dalai Lama, his dad George H.W. Bush, and about 15 other heads of state.

The “Art of Leadership” is at the George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University until June 3^rd.

And on a similar history lesson through art and autographs – there’s the recent Rolling Stone cover that had Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld). She was nude on the cover, with the U.S. Constitution tattooed on her back. It was signed at the bottom (near her bottom) by John Hancock. Any of you history buffs (no pun intended) will realize there’s a big bottom…errr…big problem with that. You see, Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution.

The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia mocked the cover and tweeted a photo of the cover with some of the founding fathers that signed the Constitution, and the words “Thanks for the shoutout, but no Hancock here.”

Dreyfus tweeted the next day that it wasn’t a mistake, but the “John Hancock” was actually just a birthmark she had. She posted a cute baby photo as proof (see below).

I think the next autograph collector to get her signature should ask her to write “Here’s my John Hancock” above her signature.

Tags: Charles Barkley, Dalai Lama, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Jordan, Vladimir Putin, Winston Churchill

1 member likes this

Comment by Ryan Maxwell on April 20, 2014 at 9:12pm: Agreed. Most who served don't talk like this. I support those who serve in our various branches of the armed forces, but this is just disrespect.

Comment by Rick Meyer on April 20, 2014 at 10:41pm: Those who talk the loudest usually did the least. Military duds always invent and exaggerate war stories.

Comment by Josh Board on April 21, 2014 at 12:02am: MESSAGE TO STEVE CYRKIN AND WASCHER: This is ole Joshie Boy...or Joshie Board here, and I'm gonna say something, and I'm only going to say it once. I told you early on Steve, that I didn't buy this Joey Daluca as a real person from day one, but just some made-up character somebody created. I spend a lot of time writing blogs and adding material to this site. If you can't keep idiots in check, I'll consider refraining from adding content here. So...can we give Joey Daluca or who ever he is, this final warning? Which should be: you can be funny. We like funny. But you have to add something to the thread, or ask a question, or something. It's not just for you to rant on and on like a d-bag. (no, not D-day, "d-bag"...Google if you aren't sure what it is). The schtick is getting old.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on April 21, 2014 at 11:22am: Josh,

We suspended Joey for 30 days in March, primarily for profanity, and reinstated him last week. He didn't use this site in the spirit it's intended to be used, so he was suspended again today. I don't know if he used his real name or not, but I don't think he was here for any nefarious purpose. We needed to give him a second chance, though.

Comment by Steve Zarelli on April 21, 2014 at 11:27am: It was a comedy routine. I actually thought he was entertaining. I've been on enough message boards going back over a decade... guys playing a role crop up all the time and you take it with a grain of salt and roll with it. Joey was relatively harmless.

Comment by wascher on April 21, 2014 at 1:48pm: I don't think he got around to calling you a "Commie" yet Zip. lol

Comment by Steve Zarelli on April 21, 2014 at 2:28pm: I know... I felt left out. LOL I guess I am used to some comic book message boards where this kind of thing is going on all the time and is often much more abusive. The CGC Boards are a total zoo and make this place look like a Miss Manners convention.

Comment by Josh Board on April 21, 2014 at 10:43pm: Mr. Zipper...of course it was a comedy routine, but here's the thing. It WASN'T FUNNY!!! The key part of "comedy routine" is the "comedy" part. Yes, I've seen those types on other message boards, but sometimes they're funny. Sometimes they just stir the crap, which can sometimes be entertaining. Nothing about his attempts at humor worked, so I say...we warn him, and if he continues, ban him. It's that simple.

Comment by wascher on April 21, 2014 at 11:08pm: I already removed him. One of the things I did in my last post to him, was to ask him to show his autographs--giving him a chance to actually talk about what this forum is about. He of course could show us none. The only thing I saw him do on this forum was to demand respect because he fought a war (and now we can collect autographs because of it), and if you didn't give him respect and thanks for this, you were called a "Commie". I didn't find it funny either. In fact it was irritating. And in my opinion he was here as a troll.

Comment