Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, recently defended his high-priced art dealings after drawing concern from critics who claimed he was using it to sell his last name for political influence or launder cash. On a recent “Nota Bene” podcast episode, Hunter sat down with hosts Nate Freeman and Benjamin Godsill to talk about his work and had some vulgar words to describe his critics.
“Other than f*** ‘em? If I were going to hatch a plan, it certainly wouldn’t be to make paintings. I could just stay in my studio and paint for myself — and I ultimately do that — but it’s kind of exciting to know that there’s an audience, and for that audience to be able to have its own interpretation of what that painting means to them,” Hunter said.
He went on to say that being the son of Joe Biden has given him an advantage his entire life, which he describes as “unfair.” He said it’s a lot easier to get noticed when you’re famous or entrenched in scandal and tried to diss Republicans by saying he was the “most famous artist in the MAGA world.” He even emphasized how he “felt bad” for talented artists who will likely never have the opportunity to share their work with the whole world.
But there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the price point of Hunter’s work, even among Democrats. Walter Shaub, former Obama Administration Office of Government Ethics head, said he was concerned about the president’s son throwing an art show, adding that we don’t know who is paying for the art or who is monitoring whether the buyers have access to the White House.
Hunter said he did not know how much his work would cost but that he would be “amazed” if someone were to pay $10 for his art. He went on to say that the value of the artist’s work “is not determined by the price.” However, it was reported by the New York Post that it would sell between $75,000 and $500,000 per piece at the George Berges Gallery in New York City. That’s a lot of “value” on a price tag, despite Hunter’s lack of artistic experience.
“The art industry is completely subjective, and completely arbitrary at times, and has sometimes nothing to do with anything at the moment. I never said my art was gonna cost what it was gonna cost, or how much it was gonna be priced at,” Hunter shared in the Nota Bene podcast.
Shaub tore apart Hunter’s $10 art comment on a recent Fox News segment and pointed to a July 2019 New Yorker article that talked about the diamond Biden received from Chinese energy tycoon Ye Jianming.
“The son of a sitting president is amazed anyone would pay more than $10 for his art? He must have been positively flabbergasted when an influence-seeking tycoon gave him a large diamond a few years back. This old diamond? Why I only wear it when I don’t care HOW I look,” Shaub said.
Even art critics, such as London’s Tabish Khan, said Hunter’s prices were way too high for what the art actually is and said it just proves that the value came from the last name, not his skill. They called it “cafe art” that doesn’t normally sell for more than a couple hundred and said anybody who drives a price that high has a motivating factor for the person who buys it.
People will buy Hunter’s paintings in the hopes of getting access to the Biden Administration and there have been no investigations, no media reporting, and no consequences for his actions. Former President Donald Trump’s son even said there would be a “media storm” for weeks if he tried to do the same thing. But Hunter is never held accountable for anything and the proof of corruption is in the price. If Hunter would be happy selling his work for $10, why doesn’t he?
