Former President George W. Bush is displaying his portraits of world leaders in the first exhibit of his work as an artist, according to CNN.
The portraits, which include everyone from a grim-looking Russian President Vladimir Putin to a smiling likeness of the late Czech playwright and President Vaclav Havel, are part of an exhibit opening Saturday at the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas, CNN reported.
The exhibit called "The Art of Leadership: A President's Personal Diplomacy" runs through June 3 and even features a self-portrait of the former president, according to CNN. At the bottom of each painting the numbers "43" can be seen, representing the president's signature as the 43 president of the United States.
"I think they're going to be (like), 'Wow, George Bush is a painter,"' Bush told NBC's "Today" show in an interview on Friday, CNN reported. "I'm sure when they heard I was painting, (they said), 'Wow, I look forward to seeing a stick figure he painted of me.'"
More than two dozen portraits are featured in the exhibit, with other subjects including the Dalai Lama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Bush also painted his father, George H.W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States, CNN reported.
"I spent a lot of time on personal diplomacy and I befriended leaders and learned about their families and their likes and dislikes, to the point where I felt comfortable painting them," Bush said in an introductory video to the exhibit, according to CNN.
Bush started painting in 2012, three years after leaving office, and said reading an essay by the late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on painting inspired him to take lessons, CNN reported. Accompanying many of the portraits are photographs of Bush with the leader he painted, along with gifts.
The George W. Bush Presidential Center, which includes the library and museum, opened almost a year ago on the campus of Southern Methodist University, according to CNN.
