Overloaded with symbolism, but will future generations “get” Quinn portrait?

It has been a gimmick of recent men who have served as governors that when they pose for their official portraits that hang in the Hall of Governors in Springfield that there are background details meant to distinguish them.

Quinn making a statement? Or just a political hoarder?

Former Gov. James R. Thompson is posed sitting in front of a portrait of Abraham Lincoln – making it a portrait within a portrait. He also wore an Elgin Watch in his portrait, and made sure to point that detail out.

WHILE IN THE case of former Gov. Jim Edgar, he’s sitting in front of a painting from one of the famed Lincoln/Douglas debates – in fact, the debate that was held in what later became his hometown of Charleston, Ill.

Considering that Edgar, when he was governor, actually had that painting hanging in his office at the Statehouse, it seemed somewhat appropriate.

Even in the case of Thompson, the Lincoln inclusion seemed kind of cute – although I wonder if anyone ever notices the Elgin-brand watch or finds it relevant.

Yet now we move ahead to former Gov. Pat Quinn, who on Monday (a little more than two years after he stepped down from the post) presented the portrait of himself that will hang in the Statehouse halls for generations to come.

THE OFFICIAL WAY we’ll be asked to remember “the Mighty Quinn.”

Which seems like it’s overload.

Quinn had a Lincoln portrait included in the background of his own portrait, along with several objects meant to be symbolic of his time in office.

There’s the photograph of Quinn surrounded by people who happen to be black – which Quinn wants us to know makes them the first non-white individuals whose images will be part of the Hall of Governors; right near Shadrach Bond (the first governor), Joel A. Matteson (whose name pronunciation is now routinely butchered by all the people who live in the south suburb entitled in his honor) and John P. Altgeld (probably now remembered by most as a public housing complex).

OF COURSE, THERE also are illustrations of a wedding photograph of Quinn’s parents, photographs of his sons and other relatives and several specifically-titled books – one of which touts the “Illinois Jobs Now!” program that the former governor would like to believe will be the keystone of his legacy.

If anything, the actual depiction of Quinn seems kind of bland – as though more attention were paid to including items in the background. As it turns out, 44 items to be exact.

Truly a case of the details overcoming the reality of the man.

It makes me wonder if this portrait will ultimately be remembered as a failure. For so many are included that there’s too much to process. Plus the fact that future generations may remember so little of Quinn the details won’t make much sense.

I DID FIND it interesting to learn that William T. Chambers was commissioned to do this portrait. For he’s the same man who gave us the aforementioned portraits of Thompson and Edgar. Which makes him now a politically bipartisan artist.

And yes, Quinn made sure to point out that no taxpayer monies were used to make this portrait. He handled the fundraising himself, which perhaps is why it took just over two years for the work to be finished.

Also ensuring that the only gap we’re going to have for the time being is that of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich – who has been preoccupied with his incarceration at federal facilities in Colorado to be able to pose for a portrait.

Which makes me think it too bad that Quinn couldn’t have included a Blagojevich head shot in the background of his official portrait – since Quinn’s term-and-a-half as governor did start when he was called upon to finish two years of Blagojevich’s term following impeachment.

BLAGOJEVICH CERTAINLY WOULD have fit in with the clutter of Quinn’s portrait. It also would be a blow to the Blagojevich ego since he, in his own self-delusional state-of-mind, thought HE and not Barack Obama, ought to be Illinois’ contribution to the national political fabric.

For those who want to see Rod reduced to nothingness, how much lower could he go than to be merely remembered as a bit player in “the Quinn Years?”

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What do Daley, Blagojevich have in common -- gaps in the official images

I’m sure that Richard M. Daley and Rod Blagojevich would shudder at the thought of having even the slightest thing in common.

DALEY: Doesn't want picture to be a big deal

But it seems they do – both men are lacking in images of themselves on display at the official government buildings where they both were once bosses.

IT HAS LONG been noted that the Hall of Governors at the Statehouse in Springfield is missing an official portrait of Blagojevich – who was governor of Illinois for six years.

But the Chicago Sun-Times on Sunday reported how there is no official photograph on display of the younger Daley as part of a presentation at City Hall of all the men who have been mayors of Chicago.

David Orr, the county clerk and former alderman, gets his photograph up there to acknowledge his six-day stint as mayor in between the death of Harold Washington and the coming of Eugene Sawyer. But Daley, the man who is now the longest-serving mayor ever (22 years) is not to be seen.

As reported by the newspaper, the city has a photograph on hand that could be put in a picture frame and hung on the wall. It also seems the attitude of the Daley family is they want city officials to just go ahead and hang the damn picture already.

BUT CURRENT MAYOR Rahm Emanuel wants to make a big production out of the event. Have a ceremony, with the mayor present and probably his family too.

The Daleys at City Hall again likely would become a big event. One that would distract, for a time being, from the problems of city government of the day.

You want to talk about the Chicago Public Schools or pensions for city workers? Look at the pretty picture of Richard M. instead! Maybe we’ll be told that we’re somehow honoring the history of our fair city.

BLAGOJEVICH: Does anybody care his portrait lacking

I can’t help but think that Daley has the right idea in thinking it’s just a photograph – and probably not one that he specifically posed for to be used on this wall. It probably would be one of the official headshots that he used back when HE was the man working in his father’s old office on the Fifth Floor of City Hall.

IT’S NOT LIKE the official gubernatorial portraits that hang in the Hall of Governors, and where there is a specific reason why Blagojevich’s six-year term as governor is not acknowledged.

Governors, after they leave office, are supposed to do the fund-raising to pay for the thousands of dollars it can cost for a formal portrait oil painting. Blagojevich blew what money he had on his legal efforts to keep from being convicted and sent to prison.

I expect as he copes with life in prison (he has seven more years to go on his sentence), the last thing he cares about is whether or not his portrait ever hangs in a government building in Springfield – a city he went out of his way to avoid when he was governor.

I also doubt that anybody with any desire to maintain an image of respectability for themselves is going to feel compelled to take up the cause of a portrait for Blagojevich.

THEY’LL PROBABLY DISMISS any arguments about the need for historical accuracy by including Blagojevich as being high-minded hooey!

We’ll probably have to wait until the day comes when Pat Quinn finally presents his official portrait to the state to have an addition to the Hall of Governors. And even that action may not occur any time in the near future.

And as time continues to pass, it is likely that people will care less and less that there are “gaps” in these official displays of the people who have been the chief executives of our government.

Could we wind up forgetting outright our city’s longest-serving mayor and the one governor we ever thought so little of that we removed him from office through impeachment? If the Cubs could win last year’s World Series, anything’s possible!

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EXTRA: Shadow of blue dress mean-spirited, but hidden detail not unique

The quirky news story of the day on Monday consisted of the tale of the artist who painted the official portrait of former President Bill Clinton – it contains a shadow that the artist said was meant to represent the blue dress famously worn by White House intern/presidential mistress Monica Lewinsky.


A little hidden meaning of the shadow that supposedly hangs over the otherwise interesting tale of the Clinton administration, artist Nelson Shanks told the Philadelphia Daily News.


HE TOLD THE newspaper he deliberately put the shadow (which he says is supposed to be cast from a mannequin wearing the dress just outside of the painting’s view) because he wanted the “taint” of Lewinsky to be included in the portrait that is meant to illustrate Clinton forevermore.

Of course, he didn’t tell anybody about this intent at the time. It is only now, a decade after the portrait was completed and unveiled, that we get to learn this new, hidden meaning, which goes on top of the already-noted fact that Clinton was not depicted wearing his wedding ring in the portrait.

Which I’m presuming means that Shanks has long since been paid for his work, and it would next to impossible for the Clintons to put a stop order on the check. He gets away with this little tweak at the Clinton presidency.

That isn’t something I’m going to get too worked up over.

ALL POLITICAL PEOPLE like to try to have some hidden detail included in their official portraits – some hidden-meaning joke that only certain people get and that most people probably groan over when it is explained to them.

In Illinois, the official portrait of Gov. James R. Thompson depicts him wearing, amongst other things, an Elgin watch. He felt it necessary to include an Illinois-made product.

While former Gov. Jim Edgar is depicted standing in his office in front of a painting of the Lincoln/Douglas debate that took place in his home town of Charleston, Ill.

There also is a framed photograph depicted in the background – a headshot of his wife, Brenda. So we have a former Illinois first lady included in that official gubernatorial portrait by artist William T. Chambers.

BOTH OF THOSE portraits are on display at the Statehouse in Springfield, although there still is a vacancy for where the official Rod Blagojevich gubernatorial portrait should be. My guess is that serving time in federal prison in Colorado doesn’t leave him time to pose, and we may never get that view.

We’ll have to wait and see what portrait Pat Quinn comes up with, and what kind of hidden aspects of his life get included in such an oil painting.

It likely won’t be anything as nasty as what Clinton’s official portrait in the National Portrait Gallery gives us. After all, how many other artists describe their subjects as “the most famous liar of all time” as Shanks did to Clinton?

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