This is brilliant...
Anonymous nude portrait of taoiseach at National Gallery drives gardaí potty
Mystery artist: the second nude portrait hung at the RHA Gallery

Police are on the hunt for an anonymous prankster who hung a nude portrait of Taoiseach Brian Cowen in the hallowed halls of the National Gallery.

The still unidentified renegade artist had painted Cowen as he was sitting on the loo with a roll of toilet paper in his hand. The painter's attempts at lifting the country's spirits certain­ly worked as dozens of visitors to the gallery last week were left chuckling at the unorthodox artwork.

One woman commented: "Well, at least that is one mess he has been able to clean up."

The bizarre prank began earlier this month when the artist calmly walked in the front entrance of the National Gallery carrying a shoulder bag.

He perused a number of rooms before making his way to the National Portrait Collection of the National Gallery, which features paintings of Ireland's most famous citizens.

The unidentified artist first stuck up a prepared caption for the artwork, which matched up exactly with the explanatory notes for the painting.

It read: "Brian Cowen, Politician, 1960-2008. This portrait, acquired uncommissioned by the National Gallery, celebrates one of the finest politicians produced by Ireland since the foundation of the state.

"Following a spell at the helm of the Department of Finance during a period of unprecedented prosperity, Brian Cowen inherited the office [of] Taoiseach in 2008.

"Balancing a public image that ranges from fantastically intelligent analytical thinker to big ignorant f**ker from Offaly, the Taoiseach proves to be a challenging subject to represent."

He then went on to hang the portrait of Cowen, sitting naked with a roll of toilet paper in his hand. The unflattering picture hung for over an hour and hundreds of patrons of the gallery passed it believing it to be a genuine part of the collection.

The National Portraits Collection consists of around 50 paintings of famous Irish people including modern celebrities such as Bono and Gay Byrne along with historical figures like Michael Collins and William Butler Yeats.

When the prank painting was spotted by security staff, they immediately took it down and brought it to the attention of gallery management. Gardaí from nearby Pearse Street station were called to the scene where they examined the portrait and CCTV footage.

Bemused officers told management, however, that it was unlikely the rogue artist had committed any type of criminal offence.

It later emerged that the mystery painter had hung a second nude portrait of Cowen holding only a pair of y-fronts in the nearby RHA Gallery on Saturday afternoon.

A National Gallery source said: "It wasn't a question of having vandalised or damaged any of the paint­ings, just adding another one to the collection.

"It was obviously something that had been planned for a long time as the frame of the painting and the caption had been matched closely to portraits already there."

A statement from the National Gallery said: "The gallery does not allow unauthorised displays. One can only surmise that it was an action by someone seeking to use the gallery for self-promotion or other reasons."

Haha! I heard about this on Ray Darcy's show this morning. Brian Cowan gives me the lulz.

At first I was all "do those irish have a different private message system than the rest of us?"

We do.

oh shi-

good thing you're too drunk to organize

That's how we organise.

It's all right, even when you do you're only 26/32nds successful.

I Knew this was gonna get ridiculous!! the national broadcaster is now being fuckin censored by the government over this as are certain other radio stations..

Police visit radio station in Cowen painting inquiry

* RTÉ apologises for news item on Cowen nude portraits | 25/03/2009
A detective from Pearse St Garda station visited the offices of Today FM yesterday afternoon looking for email contacts the Ray D'Arcy Show had with the artist who painted the nude portraits of Brian Cowen that were hung in two Dublin galleries.

On his show this morning, D'Arcy said the show’s producer Will Hanafin had spoken with the Garda who had told him that “the powers that be want action taken”.

Mr Hanafin said he was told that the gardaí wanted the name and contact details of the artist so they could caution him. The dectective said the artist was being investigated in connection with three charges in connection with incitement, indecency and criminal damage - for hammering a nail into the wall of the National Gallery.

When Mr Hanafin declined to pass the information on, he was told a warrant would have to be sought to get access to the show’s emails.

The paintings of Mr Cowen appeared in the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) gallery and the National Gallery of Ireland almost three weeks ago. He was shown holding his underpants in one painting and a toilet roll in the other.

A researcher on the show has been in phone and email contact with the artist since the middle of January when a photographer sent in an image of one of his paintings. Earlier this week, the artist confirmed to the show that the paintings were his but he denied hanging them in the galleries himself.

Mr Hanafin told The Irish Times he was “totally shocked” to be confronted by a garda over the matter.

He said in “absolutely no circumstances could this be considered an appropriate use of Garda resources. It seems to me that the powers that be have clearly lost their sense of humour”.

The Garda Press Office said it had no information on any contacts with the Ray D'Arcy Show and declined to comment on the status of the investigation, other than to say it was ongoing.

Last night RTÉ apologised for a television news report concerning the nude portraits Mr Cowen .

It said it had received a number of complaints about the item on Monday’s Nine News , including one from the Taoiseach’s office. It said it deemed the report to be inappropriate before the complaints were received and it did not run on subsequent television bulletins and was taken down from the RTÉ website.

“On last night’s programme we carried a report on the illicit hanging of caricatures of the Taoiseach in two Dublin galleries. RTÉ News would like to apologise for any personal offence caused to Mr Cowen or his family and for any disrespect shown to the office of the Taoiseach by our broadcast,” said the statement, which was read by newscaster Eileen Dunne on last night's Nine News .

Apology from RTE...fuckin scary they had to apologise for reporting a news item!!

Editor's Note: On the 23 March 2009 Nine News, we carried a report on the illicit hanging of caricatures of the Taoiseach in two Dublin galleries. RTE news would like to apologise for any personal offence caused to Mr Cowen or his family or for any disrespect shown to the office of Taoiseach by our broadcast.

I'm getting one of these for sure!!