Dublin Opinion

Now he IS an Oil Painting !!

Mar 24th, 2009 by Sean Baite

[ Images filched from RTÉ website article ]

I’ll own up then, I have been caught looking at the ‘Craic’ section on the RTÉ news website. In fact, I couldn’t resist looking further into this article : Cowen Nude Shocker! Some wag with not a little artistic talent has managed elude security and hang up nudes of our esteemed taoiseach both in the National Gallery and in the RHA’s gallery there at the back of Hume St. As far as we can see from the version from the RHA, the portrait cuts off just before the, let us say, current alarming budget deficit. The figure in the portrait is holding a pair of prime-ministerial ‘briefs’ (as they might say in Whitehall) with more than a hint of Talbot St. shopping to them.

RTÉ ought to be a bit more careful in the wording of their captions :

The painting, though well-hung, was quickly taken down

…as we might suspect Cowen himself as having commissioned the work as a clever Rocco Siffredi-style ploy faced with flagging performance in the polls. We cannot however speculate or make conjecture, like RTÉ, on attributes which are hors cadre.

I can only hope that the Special Branch raid on Grogan’s won’t cause too much distress to the afternoon clientèle as the work bears somewhat of a stylistic resemblance to some of those I’ve seen on the walls of that smashing pub over the years (narrowing down the suspects to just about any thirsty painter to have passed through Dublin since Behan).

Posted in dublin, Sodgers of Destiny, Art | 10 Comments

10 Responses to “Now he IS an Oil Painting !!”

on 25 Mar 2009 at 1:59 pm1Donagh

Haughey bought shirts in Paris, but Cowen gets his kacks in Guiney’s - brilliant!
I saw the apology last night before getting around to reading this post - which is completely the wrong way around I know - but it seems that there was ’serious’ pressure.

Fianna Fáil TD Michael Kennedy last night called on RTÉ director general Cathal Goan to consider his position. The report “represented a gross insult to the position of An Taoiseach, not to mention a personal affront to the dignity of the man himself”, Mr Kennedy said in a statement.

The item “was obviously seen as a piece of entertainment – biased and partisan entertainment”, and raised “serious questions about the agenda at play in the RTÉ newsroom”, he added.

I only hope that the person with a sense of humour in RTE who used the phrase ‘well hung’ isn’t now jobless.
on 26 Mar 2009 at 12:11 am2Donagh

I only noticed this now while checking out Gavin’s blog. It’s the work of Allan Cavanagh.

Irish Election has had it made into a T-Shirt. Perfect clobber for wearing down the social welfare office.

I can’t wait for the ‘RTE suck!’ T-Shirt. On the front it would have a photo of Gardai stuffing the artist who did the picture into the back of Garda car and on the back it would be a picture of Pat Kenny and David Irving cheerfully chucking great wads of cash at each other.
on 26 Mar 2009 at 8:41 am3Sean Baite

Saw the IT article about all the RTÉ back-pedalling well after putting up the post. I thought I was being far-fetched in imagining the Branch raiding Grogan’s. I hadn’t suspected Ireland had turned into a parody of Putin’s Russia (though with a little less martial arts from the great leader).
Allan Cavanagh better be on the look out for radioactive stuff in his cornflakes…
Is Kennedy for real ? Talk about blowing things out of proportion. Surely the Sodgers have more pressing matters to be dealing with this weather ??
Finally - as to the (alleged) source of the great chief’s keks - on reflection, he possibly shops in the same place as Steve Bell’s John Major… is that enough lèse-majesté for youse, sodger boys ??
on 29 Mar 2009 at 9:23 pm4cearta.ie » Cowengate follow-on: a question, and more pictures at the exhibitions

[…] D Daragh Lally | Down with my life | Dublin Opinion […]
on 02 Apr 2009 at 7:30 pm5Allan Cavanagh

Sean, I’d probably just mutate into an even bigger pain in the ass.
on 03 Apr 2009 at 10:01 am6Seán Báite

Allan, I see that since Fústar has launched his ‘Picturegate’ nude postcards of Biffo appeal ( Over here for the rest of youse ) - you’re probably safe from radioactive stuff. It’d be beyond the poor dears’ budget these days to buy enough glow-in-the-dark fake cornflakes in (black market from Turkmenistan) to target all those hundreds of amateur satirists - and you too.
I’m pretty good at postcards - but not the dab hand you are with the drawing - but I must get one off to him.

Loved the Martin Rowson contribution you have up on your blog ( Here - we seem to be on the same wavelength in terms chosen for the prime-ministerial genitalia

Far too late - but wouldn’t ‘Buffogate’ be more appropriate a name for the whole thing ? I’m sure ‘Cowengate’ will be needed again in the future - they’re certain to cut back on milk for babbies between this and they leave office…
on 03 Apr 2009 at 12:35 pm7Allan Cavanagh

Buffogate is good but it’s just the speedy nature of a Twitter discussion that the first term hashtagged tends to be the one that sticks, hence picturegate.
on 03 Apr 2009 at 2:13 pm8Donagh

This thing is so popular that all sorts of names have already been applied. Cowengate for example is used by Curry Chip:

Like the Love Ulster parade Creative Ireland are getting on the act.

And let’s not even get into the conspiracy theories (number 10).
on 10 Aug 2009 at 5:02 am9Alicia

This is actually humiliating, and the paintings should be removed.
on 21 Aug 2011 at 4:36 pm10James Beirne

Disgraceful crap Allan