Portrait of Lyndon Baines Johnson

[LBJ Library photo by Ruth Goerger]

This week's artifact is an oil painting (1973.10329.1) done by an inmate at the Texas Department of Corrections in 1971 and given to the LBJ Library in 1973.  The Huntsville prison provided art classes in the 1970s.

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Then & Now

36 US President watch video 36 US President

Did You Know…

According to the National Portrait Gallery, the portrait of President Johnson by Peter Hurd was meant to be Johnson's official White House likeness. But LBJ didn't think it did him justice and selected artist Elizabeth Shoumatoff instead. Soon the pun was making the rounds in Washington that "artists should be seen around the White House--but not Hurd." 

Topic Talk

Lyndon Johnson, Portrait in a Minute watch video Lyndon Johnson, Portrait in a Minute