Andy Thomas, a painter based in Missouri, painted an abstract gathering which included current president, Donald Trump, leaning against his chair, having a drink with former presidents Abraham Lincoln, Richard Nixon, Teddy Roosevelt and so on. “The Republican Club” caught Trumps eyes even though he admitted to not liking most portraits that are drawn of him.

Thomas’s painting first came into notice when Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of California approved of the picture and let Thomas know that he will be showing it to the president. Thinking nothing of it, Thomas continued with his daily life. Just a few weeks later, he received a call from the president himself. As the president typically does, he sparked up a conversation about politics and even asked Thomas what Trump’s reputation was in his town.

For someone who never expected any kind of recognition, Thomas was extremely pleased to have heard from one of his painting subjects. Being recognized for their hard work is definitely a great reward for any artist.

Thomas claimed that one of the hardest parts about creating the painting were the smiles. According to Thomas, some subjects have natural smiles that are easy to replicate in a painting. However, some have more of a forced smile that would not look natural in a realistic painting. According to Thomas, he had to scavenge through thousand’s of Trump photos in order to put together a smile that would be appealing in the painting. He also mentioned that he had the same problem with Nixon’z smile as well.

It was not until Sunday’s episode of 60 Minutes on CBS, that Thomas found out his painting had been put up on the white house wall. During his interview with Lesley Stahl, the camera caught a glimpse of this new piece on the wall. As soon as the image was noticeable, social media websites such as twitter, worked its magic of creating a news headline of this event.

Although “The Republican Club” seems to be shining a limelight on past republican presidents and seems to be avoiding any mentions of the democratic party, Thomas did not completely turn his back to the democratic party. “The Democratic Club” parallels “The Republican Club” with the inclusion of past democratic presidents. Of course this would mean a favorable cameo by former president Barack Obama.

In this image, Obama is seen enjoying a get together with his democratic predecessors.

Thomas says that he had always wondered what past presidents would think of the current president. These paintings are meant to signify this thought process.