The Anti-Obama Artist

Jon McNaughton painted harmless landscapes until the United States got too liberal for him. Now he depicts President Obama burning the U.S. Constitution.

It can hang in every American living room for just $59, right above the cabinet holding the good dinnerware, next to the family photographs or tastefully framed by American flags. Barack Obama in oils. His expression grim, a burning copy of the United States Constitution in his hand. The painting is titled “One Nation Under Socialism,” painted by American artist Jon McNaughton.

It’s part of a series of “patriotic paintings” that has made the 44-year-old run-of-the-mill painter of landscapes and religious subjects into a popular conservative artist. His original works are for sale on the website Buzzfeed and command six-figure sums. The grim-faced Obama now hangs in the home of famous Fox News moderator Sean Hannity. He flattered the artist in an April interview by telling him that when he first saw the Obama painting, he was overwhelmed.

The wow-effect McNaughton achieves with his style, which he calls “conservative realism,” is assured. “When I painted a landscape painting, it was like dropping a pebble in a pond. When I started doing these political paintings, it was like throwing a stick of dynamite,” the artist told a Salon.com interviewer.

Not that that necessarily makes the pond any prettier. Conservatives may love McNaughton’s style and pay high prices for his work — signed and limited copies fetch several hundred dollars — but art critics have little regard for them. “The painting is junk (yes, junk),” opined critic Christopher Knight of the L.A. Times. Jerry Saltz of New York Magazine called McNaughton’s painting “typical propaganda art.”

“The National Tragedy”

Actually, the business-suited Obama holding a burning U.S. Constitution doesn’t immediately scream socialism; it needs a title to make that point clear. The fact that McNaughton is considered an anti-Obama artist doesn’t bother him. He says he wants to show people in a dramatic way exactly what choices they face in the coming election.

In order to ensure it doesn’t play out to Obama’s advantage in the form of another term in office, the artist from Utah has been putting his political ideology on canvas. The paintings bear titles like “The Forgotten Man,” “Wake Up, America!” and “One Nation Under God.” Anyone who still doesn’t understand where McNaughton is coming from can visit his Internet site, where they can hover with their mouse over the clouds (“The National Deficit”) or the stars and stripes at half-mast (“The National Tragedy”) for an explanation. Of course, McNaughton says he isn’t in it for the money, despite the fact his website offers a number of options for size, print quality and expensive frames to customers.

“A Miracle”

His latest work is titled “The Empowered Man.” It depicts an average American male, again holding a copy of the U.S. Constitution. This one isn’t on fire. McNaughton explains his painting by saying that if Americans want to save their country from financial ruin they must get out of their chairs and make their voices heard. In the painting, James Madison, the “father of the constitution” and fourth U.S. president, is shown kneeling in prayer next to Mr. Average American. Connie, a visitor to McNaughton’s Facebook page, wrote she was very impressed by his work and loved all his paintings. Sandra, another admirer, said she believes it’s a miracle: a picture full of hope, America rises, the cloudy skies dissipate and the U.S. flag again waves proudly. Anyone wanting to own the original painting has to shell out at least $50,000. If admirer Sean Hannity takes part in the bidding, they can count on spending even more. The less discriminating fan of patriotic art can possibly pick up an unframed poster for $75 or so; that includes the right to return it within 30 days.