Overview
- Bush revealed the series at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas and posted images to Instagram on Friday, September 11, 2026, saying the works would remain on view through September 30.
- The paintings use emblematic scenes and figures—American flags, mourning people, portraits of Bush himself—to honor victims and highlight resilience rather than show the attacks directly.
- Among the images Bush shared are a recreation of Andy Card whispering to him in a Florida classroom, smoke over Lower Manhattan, a hand holding a badge, and a giant flag draped over the Pentagon on Sept. 12, 2001.
- The unveiling provoked immediate social media astonishment and calls from some commentators for museum consideration, while critics and at least one Clinton adviser noted the show does not reckon with the Bush administration’s Global War on Terror.
- The project builds on Bush’s post‑presidential painting practice of portrait and memorial work and is likely to shape debates about how the 25th anniversary frames national memory and his political legacy.