Portrait exhibit brings 47 American presidencies to life
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Portraits: Salvatore Catalano
America's 250 years have been divided into 47 presidencies, served by 45 men.
- A new exhibit on display in the lobby of Goldman Sachs' global headquarters in New York City brings each presidency to life. Artist Salvatore Catalano pairs a portrait of every president with a quote that captures the era or the individual.
Why it matters: "Most Americans can't name the presidents, much less tell you what they look like," Catalano tells Axios. "This was a labor of love."
- "Portraits are very important to me," says Catalano, who's spent decades developing a distinctive style of color, shadow and light in portraiture. "We look at a list of names, but there's no color there. There's no brilliance, no blood."
Zoom in: He used quotes from each president to inspire the style of the portrait. Here's a sampling from the first three and latest three presidents, shown above:
- George Washington: "Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism," from the first president's farewell address on Sept. 19, 1796.
- John Adams: "To be good, and to do good, is all we have to do," from a letter Adams wrote to his daughter, Abigail, on March 17, 1777.
- Thomas Jefferson: "Where the press is free ... all is safe," from a letter to close friend and political ally Charles Yancey on Jan. 6, 1816.
- Barack Obama: "We are the change that we seek," from his speech after Super Tuesday on Feb. 5, 2008.
- Joe Biden: "The art of living is simply getting up after you've been knocked down," at an event at the National Press Club on Aug. 1, 2007, during his 2008 candidacy.
- Donald Trump: "Our golden age has just begun," from his second inaugural address.
"My job is to find things that nobody else knows about these people," Catalano tells us.
- "For Washington, I could have chosen something more recognizable, but this one struck me."
The exhibit, featuring all 47 presidential portraits framed by two American flags — the 13-star Betsy Ross flag on the left and the modern 50-star flag on the right — will remain on display in Goldman Sachs' lobby through August.
- After that, it will move to D.C.
