Israeli artist Iddo Markus painted oil-color works on canvas and wood that feature 120 shades of Donald Trump as a part of a portrait series, ‘The Apprentice.’
“Let’s start by saying that I don’t like him,” Markus stressed, noting that he was fascinated by the Trump’s “tragic figure.”
His first painting of Trump, was followed by around 120 more oil-color works on canvas and wood, depicting the former president with a distorted face.
The walls and floor of his studio, in the northern port city of Haifa, are packed with portraits of Trump.
Markus said he couldn’t believe it when Trump presented his candidacy for the 2016 presidential election.
Moreover, when the former American president was eventually elected, he said he was terrified, even “repulsed” by the Republican’s “way of treating people and minorities.”
“The first paintings were much more colorful and faster,” Markus, who went to art school in both his native US and current home Israel said.
However, he revealed that the figure took on a more “pathetic” air after Trump’s supporters sparked the US Capitol riots earlier this month.
“Now I feel he’s like a tragic figure,” the Israeli artist said. “He became a complex person, instead of an image, instead of an icon.”
“The way he holds himself was different after he lost,” he added, saying this conveyed “that he is a human being and he understands something has changed. Before that, I really felt he thought he was god.”
The Israeli artist has dubbed the portrait series “The Apprentice”, after the reality TV show that contributed to Trump’s popularity.
“I’m obsessed with everything I do,” he said. “I’m not a person who needs a drama to paint. I don’t need war, love… I need a journey.”
He concluded his speech, asserting that painting Trump “was an interesting journey.”
