Portrait of Putin as a tense man: George W. Bush unveils his artistic streak with paintings of world leaders
As 43rd US president takes up art to open his mind, he says his portraits of other world leaders reflect the time he spent on 'personal diplomacy'
Former US president George W. Bush said relations with Vladimir Putin grew "increasingly tense" during his White House years, as he unveiled his portraits of world leaders, including the Russian head of state.
Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former British prime minister Tony Blair, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Dalai Lama are among the two dozen leaders featured in an exhibition of the paintings which opened at a Texas museum yesterday.
Giving his journalist daughter Jenna a sneak preview of the exhibition for NBC's Today programme, Bush lingered by his canvas of a solemn-eyed Putin.
"I got to know him very well," the former president said.
Bush, 67, said relations with Putin during his eight years in the White House - from 2001 to 2009, a period that included the US-led invasion of Iraq - "became more tense as time went on".
"Vladimir's a person who in many ways views the US as an enemy," Bush said. "And although he wouldn't say that, I felt that he viewed the world as, either the US benefits and Russia loses or vice versa."