Art + AuctionHunter Biden’s First Exhibition Is Not Your Typical Solo ShowManhattan gallerist Georges Bergès has been enlisted by the White House to vet potential buyers

By Jessica Cherner

November 10, 2021

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Email

Hunter Biden, the President’s second eldest son, has been painting for decades. And, as of last week, the artist has his own solo show in New York City.Photo: Georges Bergès Gallery

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Email

Hunter and President Joe Biden.Photo: Teresa Kroeger

There’s no denying that we live in a highly transactional society: We offer money in exchange for a product or service. In most cases, making a purchase—no matter how big—is, in fact, that simple. Like any rule, however, there are exceptions. One such exception is a new exhibition featuring the work of Hunter Biden dubbed “The Journey Home” in Lower Manhattan’s Georges Bergès Gallery on West Broadway. But prospective buyers for this show can’t exactly just wander the gallery’s two floors, admiring the colorful art of the sitting President’s second son: They first need to be vetted by none other than Bergès himself.

In doing so, the White House administration hopes to avoid any implication of pay-for-play—such as a scenario where a patron may offer a grand sum for an authentic Hunter Biden landscape, with the hope of scoring a bit of sway in the White House (in addition to a beautiful work of art). 

Biden completed his works on a variety of mediums, including canvas, metal, and Japanese yupo paper.Photo: Georges Bergès Gallery

The current White House Counsel’s Office created a set of specific directives that would help Bergès keep the buyers private from both Hunter Biden and his father’s administration. Bergès can even reject offers from potential buyers if they—or the amounts they’re offering—seem off. That’s also why he’s scheduling appointments rather than allowing passersby to stroll into the gallery and gaze at the artist’s enigmatic pieces. The show doesn’t exactly follow a theme, but some paintings, which the New York Times calls reminiscent of the work of Fred Tomaselli, are complicated and skilled, even slightly psychedelic. Although the younger Biden has never received any formal art training, he’s been painting for decades.

The collection spans 25 pieces that grace the walls of the gallery’s two floors.Photo: Georges Bergès Gallery

Bergès set prices for the exhibition at sums he believes reflect the quality of Biden’s work, which are done on canvas, metal, and Japanese yupo paper. Most of the pieces fall into the tens of thousands range, but one may be priced at a whopping $100,000.

“Hunter Biden’s work is authentic and soulful,” Bergès says. “For almost two decades I’ve searched for an artist that not only speaks to me, but that I think will have a real impact on our broader culture. I found this and more in Hunter Biden.” Whether or not Biden is a great American artist of the 21st century remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: This is an exhibition many are already clamoring to visit. They’ll just need to get through Bergès first.