George W. Bush, the former US President who has become an artist since leaving the White House, created a new body of work to mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11 this September.
Debuting in an exhibition at his Dallas-based George W. Bush Presidential Center on Tuesday are 16 new paintings grouped under the title “Remembering 9/11.” On view through September 30, these paintings “reflect on the courage, sacrifice, and resilience that emerged from one of the most defining moments in American history,” per a description on the museum’s website.
The precise subjects of these paintings remain a mystery, since the museum has not made details public. However, the exhibition is being teased with a painting of a helmet and flowers set atop memorials to firefighters who died in service on 9/11. One of those firefighters is Peter L. Freund, who perished at 45.
The 9/11 attacks, in which four planes were hijacked and crashed, were carried out by al-Qaeda as a self-described retaliation against United States foreign policy in the Middle East.
Bush, who was president during 9/11, has gained a colorful reputation as a painter. He has taken on subjects such as immigrants to America, self-portraiture, and campus life at Southern Methodist University, the Texas school where there is a center in his name.
He does not have a formal art education, and the paintings that he produces have at times been dismissed as amateur. But they have also found unlikely admirers such as Pulitzer Prize–winning critic Jerry Saltz, who, in one widely read 2013 review, wrote, “The Whitney Museum of American Art should get on the stick and offer this American a small show.” So far, the Whitney has yet to do this.
A new painting from “Remembering 9/11,” a 2026 series by George W. Bush.
Courtesy George W. Bush Presidential Center
