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The article reports that two portraits of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart that been in the New York Public Library's collection for more than a century failed to sell at Sotheby's in an auction that had generated advance controversy. The paintings were included in a group of 16 works that the library put on the auction block to raise money for its endowment. The article includes comments regarding the auction from library president Paul LeClerc.

The article reports on Americans' changing preferences regarding portraiture. Americans' interest in commissioned portraiture - oil, charcoal and pastel - has marched on unabated since the 1980's, when a new culture of wealth and traditionalism and a renewed interest in figurative painting brought it back into vouge. But a new style of casual portraiture has emerged, which often features children and teenagers with soccer balls, bass guitars, Converse basketball shoes or fishing rods.

The intense, deep blue skies of the American Southwest, skies that have drawn painters and photographers for a century or more, are a product of the region's extremely dry air. Yet here's another interesting fact: Though we think of the Southwest as dry -- and it is dry -- its development and population took off during a period in the 20th century when it enjoyed perhaps its wettest weather in hundreds of years. The killing droughts that have lately gripped the region were unusual by recent standards but otherwise all too typical and all too likely to recur -- a prospect the National Research Council has called ''sobering.'' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

''Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture,'' a diligent exhibition centering on 20th-century portraits and self-portraits of or by gay artists, is now at the Brooklyn Museum, and it is more or less intact. Which is to say that once again, nearly a year after it was first mounted at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, it includes ''A Fire in My Belly,'' a four-minute excerpt from a video made in 1986-87 by David Wojnarowicz, who died of AIDS in 1992, at 37. Early in its run at the Portrait Gallery, ''Hide/Seek'' was abruptly divested of the Wojnarowicz (pronounced voy-nah-ROH-vitch) video, whose spliced-together imagery reads as a sometimes furious pictorial lament about human suffering. A brief close-up showing ants crawling frantically over a small plastic crucifix offended Republicans in Congress, who made threatening noises about the Smithsonian's financing. G. Wayne Clough, the Smithsonian's director, evidently agreeing that art should never offend anyone, immediately had the video removed from the show. (He later indicated that he regretted acting so quickly, which was small comfort.) That video, along with the longer version from which it had been excerpted by the show's organizers, became widely available on the Internet, and was in all likelihood viewed by many, many more people than saw the actual show. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WASHINGTON -- So, is there an Obama doctrine? In laying out his justification for the American-led assault on Libya on Monday night, the president offered the most detailed portrait of when he might commit the country's military might in a tumultuous world. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on artist Ruth Ro and discusses the work she has been doing in creating portraits of those responsible in bringing about change in Manhattan, New York City. Portraits of various people including designer Diane Von Furstenberg, the hotelier Andre Balazs and retailer Jeffrey Kalinsky were created by her. Ro, views the development as a positive aspect because of the different kind of life that newcomers were bringing into the place.

The article reports that all former first ladies in the U.S. will appear on gold coins. The half-ounce pure gold coins will show them in the order in which their husbands served. The front and back designs of the coins were presented at the National First Ladies' Library in Canton, Ohio. The front of the coin will have a portrait of the first lady while the back will have something associated with her. The first four coins will be put on sale to investors and collectors in May 2007.

Looks into the restoration work on a portrait of David Hosack, the surgeon who took care of Alexander Hamilton on his deathbed, shown at the New York Historical Society in New York. Amount of money the exhibition "Alexander Hamilton, the Man Who Made Modern America;" Discussion of the events that led to the repair work; Name of the person responsible for restoring it.

Profiles African American painter, Simmie Lee Knox who was commissioned to paint a portrait of former President, Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary unveiled at a White House ceremony. Hometown; Education; Career highlights; Marriage; children; Hobbies.

Reports on the scheduling of a ceremony to unveil the official portraits of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton at the White House in Washington D.C. in June 2004.

Reports on Las Vegas, Nevada-based casino owner Stephen A. Wynn's purchase of the "Portrait of Robert Louis Stevenson and His Wife."

Focuses on an exhibition of portraits made by artist Gary Schneider in Cambridge, Massachusetts. History of Schneider's career as an artist; Late-Victorian portraits; "Genetic Self-Portrait" series of Schneider.

Focuses on a series of photographs by Jack Pierson featuring fifteen images of men in various stages of life and titled "Self Portrait." Analysis of the photographs; Membership of Mr. Pierson in a group of photographers known as the Boston School; Other members; Comparison to Cindy Sherman's "Untitled Film Stills"; Influence by the Dada legacy of provocation.

Reports on the launching of official portrait of former Governor Jesse Ventura of Minnesota in the State Capitol Rotunda in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Description of the painting; Relation between Ventura and artist Steve Cepello; Background of Cepello.

Reports on the exhibition of the portrait 'Lady With an Ermine,' by Leonardo da Vinci at the Milwaukee Art Museum in Wisconsin through November 24, 2002.

Focuses on the removal of the portrait of Queen Catherine of Braganza in the Borough Hall in New York City. Installation of the portrait; Resistance in dethroning the portrait; Plans on redecorating the Hall.

Reports on the unveiling of a portrait of New Jersey Governor Christie Whitman in an oil painting by artist Chen Yanning on June 8, 2001.

Highlights the painting exhibition `Historical Portraits Revisited,' by Lorenzo Poccianti held at the Baccarat store in New York City on May 21, 2001.

Reports that photographer Richard Avedon has given 115 of his portraits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Reports on the speech delivered by Newt Gingrich, former United States speaker of the House, at the unveiling of his portrait at Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C. on November 15, 2000. Career in politics of Gingrich; Accomplishments.

Reports on the illegal activity of Chinese artists sketching charcoal portraits in front of a plywood construction fence at the Reuters building site on Broadway in New York City, New York. How their activity became illegal; Remarks from Zhang Zhun and Lin Ming.

Presents information on a portrait of distinguished composers in New York in 1999. Artistic director; Photographer; Physical placement.

Describes the project of artist Brett Cook-Dizney in painting the portraits of ordinary Harlem, New York City residents. Places where the the portraits are displayed; Purpose of the project; How the project was inspired.

Focuses on society portraiture in New York City in 1999. Figures who have sat for portraits; Response to portrait exhibitions; Evocation of early styles in the work of painters Paul Benney, Adam Fuss, Lorenzo Poccianti and David Seidner; Factors in the popularity of the sophisticated portrait image; Exhibition of the work of Francesco Clemente, whose portraits are shown in `Life Is Paradise'; Costs.

Reports on an exhibition of portraits, `Face Value: American Portraits' at the Parish Art Museum, the `Moulin-Rouge-de-Paris Cabaret' benefit for the Hampton Library, and relocation of Ross Bleckner's benefit for the Community Research Initiative on AIDS to the grounds of Bridgehampton Winery.

Informs about the unveiling of former United States President George Bush and his wife's portraits at the White House by Bush on July 17, 1995.

Focuses on Bryan Karvelis, a priest at Transfiguraton Roman Catholic Church in the Southside neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. His background in the support of community issues, such as Puerto Rican rights in the 1950s and youth centers to combat gang violence; His confrontations with the Federal welfare and immigration policies.

Comments on the revival of the portraiture art form in the United States in the 1990s. Details of the same; Status of the art form in the 19th century; Reasons for its resurgence; Details of the exhibitions, concepts and subjects on the art form in 1995.

Reports that students at the University of Virginia protested the hanging of portraits of the school's former deans. Details on the portraits; Information on the protesters; Reason for the protest against the portraits.