Question: What Texas politician called a painting commissioned for his official portrait the “ugliest thing I ever saw”?
Answer: Lyndon B. Johnson. New Mexico native Peter Hurd, who studied under prolific illustrator N. C. Wyeth, was commissioned to paint the official White House portrait for the 36th president. When LBJ rejected the portrait, Hurd retaliated by briefly displaying it at the Diamond M Museum in Snyder, Texas, where it was seen by a record crowd. Today, the portrait hangs in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
