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The
Penguin Random House imprint Crown announced Wednesday that “The
Call of Freedom: Portraits of Political Prisoners and
Dissidents” will be released March 9 and coincide with an
exhibition of Bush's art at the George W. Bush Presidential
Center in Dallas. The new book will include Bush's portraits of
such symbols of oppression as the late Mahsa Amini, whose death
in 2022 while in the custody of Iranian authorities led to
nationwide protests, and the imprisoned Nicaraguan bishop
Rolando José Álvarez Lagos.
“The Call of Freedom,” the third collection of Bush's art, will
include 44 paintings and biographical sketches of each subject.
Former Soviet Union dissident Natan Sharansky is contributing a
foreword.
“This book, coupled with our work at the Bush Institute, is a
chance for me to send a message that the United States cares
deeply about people seeking freedom,” Bush writes in the book.
“And hopefully these stories will remind us that we who live in
liberty have a duty to stand with those who do not.”
The book champions human rights even as Bush's own record as
president has led to frequent criticism, whether the CIA’s use
of waterboarding or the abuse of Iraqis at the Abu Ghraib
prison.
Bush took up painting after leaving office in 2009. His previous
books include “Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief’s
Tribute to America’s Warriors” and “Out of Many, One: Portraits
of America’s Immigrants.”
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