Fort Worth artist captures Perry without his new hipster glasses

Rick Perry’s official portrait was unveiled at the Capitol Rotunda on Friday and, no, he is not wearing the brainy hipster glasses he used to rebrand himself going into his second presidential run.

Perry's portrait was done by longtime local artist James Tennison of Fort Worth, long known as the artist behind the portrait of former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, located two portraits over from where Perry’s now hangs, just on the other side of George W. Bush.

Tennison also is known for creating many of Fort Worth’s revered “Shakespeare in the Park” posters that featured William Shakespeare enjoying activities in a park.

It was Bush who defeated Richards and delivered the governorship to Perry, then the lieutenant governor, when he was elected president — after a protracted recount — over Vice President Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election.

John Sneed, the executive director of the State Preservation Board, said the unveiling answered the question most frequently asked by visitors to the Capitol, “Where is Gov. Perry’s portrait?,” and the most frequently asked question of the past week – “with or without glasses?”

“That was worth $500,000 to me,” said billionaire businessman and philanthropist Red McCombs, who introduced Perry, turning around to look at the painting and giving a little whoop, explaining that he had bet a guy that Perry would not be wearing the glasses in the portrait.

Perry ran for president twice. In 2011 he entered the 2012 presidential campaign as a late but instant front-runner, briefly overtaking former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in the polls. But his campaign foundered on an uneven performance on the stump and on the debate stage, most famously the “oops” moment when he couldn’t remember the name of the third federal agency he would eliminate if elected president.

With new glasses, and far better preparation, he entered the 2016 race hoping he could erase the memory of his previous campaign and provide the party with an experienced and successful governor of the largest red state as its standard bearer. But he never gained traction and was among the first to challenge Trump and Trumpism, calling him and it a “cancer on conservatism.”

“Donald Trump is the modern-day incarnation of the Know-Nothing movement,” Perry said, referring to a nativist party that flourished briefly in the 1840s.

But Perry paid a price for tangling with Trump, who belittled Perry, tweeting that he should have to pass an IQ test to qualify for the presidential debates.

In early September, Perry was the first of the large Republican field of candidates to fold his tent.

Perry later endorsed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s presidential candidacy, campaigning for him with his customary zeal, in Iowa, South Carolina and Texas.

Perry for veep?

But, even before Cruz dropped out of the race Tuesday after losing the Indiana primary, Perry said in an appearance on “The View” that he was prepared to back Trump if he were the nominee. And, on Thursday, Perry told CNN that if Trump asked him to be his running mate, he would accept.

“He is one of the most talented people who has ever run for the president I have ever seen,” Perry told CNN.

On Friday, Trump repeated Perry’s compliment in a predawn tweet, adding, “Thank you Rick!”

At a brief press conference after the unveiling of his portrait, Perry downplayed the significance of his past criticism of Trump, saying it was of a piece with normal political combat.

“The rhetoric is in the heat of battle, it’s in the chaos of a presidential bid,” Perry said. “If no one doesn’t understand that then they don’t understand how our process of elections work. We compete, and then we let bygones be bygones.”

Perry said that he understands that right now Cruz’s feelings are raw, but “he has the intellect and the character to make the right decision on his timetable,” and “I certainly am willing, and I think Donald Trump is willing, to give those competitors the time to think this through, but at the end of the day, we’re going to support the Republican nominee.”

“When the choice is Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, that becomes abundantly easy for me to make that decision,” Perry said.

Of Trump’s talents, Perry said, “he knows how to market, he knows how to brand and he’s vanquished sixteen pretty capable men and women.”

He said he thought Trump has what it takes to move the country forward economically and rebuild the military, and that Trump recognizes “he’s going to need some people who have great experience” to help him govern, and that he has plenty of experience with that.

“We haven’t had a conversation in probably six months,” Perry said, but, “if Donald Trump says, ‘Perry let’s talk about you helping’” in whatever role, “I’m open to it.”

While Perry would not bring any Washington experience to the ticket, and he still suffers from his “oops” moment, he is well-liked by a broad array of Republican leaders and activists, and is an effective and enthusiastic campaigner, though still not the best debater, a key role for anyone on the national ticket.

Also, in February, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed abuse of office charges against Perry. The criminal indictment had hung over Perry’s presidential campaign, an asterisk next to his name for voters and donors.

Fort Worth artist

A graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington in 1977, Tennison has traveled across the United States and England, as have his paintings that are on display in galleries from California to New York to Texas.

His work also hangs in hallways of buildings at Texas Christian University, Southern Methodist University and Harvard University.

After painting Richards’ portrait when her gubernatorial term was over, he said the former Democratic governor was very witty.

At the same time, Richards, who specifically wanted a Texas artist, said she was very happy with how her painting turned out.

“It's a wonderful portrait,” she said at the time. “He makes me look like someone you'd like to sit down with and talk to. It's a very friendly painting in comparison with some of my brothers who are hanging up there who look rather stiff and gruff.

“It makes me look warm-hearted,” she told the Star-Telegram in 1999. “So I liked it very much for that reason.”

Tennison years ago said his work on Richards’ portrait landed him other jobs.

“I got commissioned by SMU to do one of their past presidents because someone said, ‘Find the artist who did Ann Richards,’” he said.

There were repeated attempts to get him to spill the beans on details of the Perry portrait while it was in progress. But, Tennison told reporters, “I was told I have to keep everything confidential.”

Staff writers Anna M. Tinsley and John Gravois contributed to this report, which contains material from the Austin American-Statesman.

This story was originally published May 6, 2016 at 6:37 PM with the headline "Fort Worth artist captures Perry without his new hipster glasses."