NYPOST-051905

KING OF POP ART BARES PORTRAIT
The New York Post
645572 All Editions
News
Published: 05/29/2005
Page: 016
Keywords: Analysis
Caption: - SURREALIST SUPPER:A painting of Michael Jackson and his “disciples” (left to right) Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Walt Disney, Charlie Chaplin, Elvis and Little Richard. (Harry Benson) - PIECE OF WORK:Jacko shows off “The Storyteller” in ‘93. Another painting (right) depicts a Jacko with cherubs. (Alpha/Globe Photos)
KING OF POP ART BARES PORTRAIT OF A CRACKPOT
Byline: By DIANE DIMOND

To his fans, Michael Jackson is the greatest entertainer of our time who is classically misunderstood.

To his critics, he is the most eccentric man alive who may have molested young boys.

But this is how Michael Jackson sees himself - in these three portraits he commissioned with himself as Christ at the Last Supper surrounded by American icons, as the ultimate storyteller, and as a heavenly creature, a patron to cherubic little ones.

To hear Jackson tell it, in fact, he’s got a place in history not only next to Elvis but to Gandhi.

In 13 weeks of testimony - including hours of videotape from inside Neverland - the jury in his child sexual molestation trial has been given the clearest portrait to date of the way Michael Jackson sees himself.

The jury was shown these three portraits as well as a few others, just some of the many commissioned by the pop star. And they heard Jackson explain his role in the world to documentarian Martin Bashir in footage scooped up off the cutting-room floor.

“There is no more Mother Teresa, Princess Diana [or] Audrey Hepburn,” Jackson told Bashir. “They are not here anymore - there is no voice for the children.”

“I see God through them,” he whispered about the children with whom he surrounds himself. Sitting on a shiny wood-paneled floor and propped on a big pillow, he declared, “If it wasn’t for the children, I’d throw in the towel. I feel their purity.”

Later in the video, Jackson quotes Jesus and likens himself to Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
The jury also saw the way Jackson lives: Neverland’s massive entryway with marble statues to rival those found in castles in France, the brick-lined kitchen and breakfast nook, the formal dining room, the impressive library, all those whimsical, lifelike mannequins that cozy up in corners and along hallways.

And they saw the walls of his mansion, covered in commissioned artwork - most often featuring Jackson himself.

It is thought the artists were likely asked to sign a confidentiality agreement and turn over any and all copies of the work.

One portrait seen currently hanging in the lavish dining room is titled “The Storyteller,” commissioned from artist David Nordahl, who has done a number of works for Jackson.

It depicts Jackson as a radiant father figure surrounded by the happiest, most contented-looking children you’ve ever seen. The painting simply glows.

Another Nordahl portrait hangs in an adjoining formal living area and captures the self-proclaimed spirituality Jackson spoke about.

The dethroned King of Pop is seen dressed in papal red with his eyes fixed on some mystical point in the sky, his arms extended in a pious gesture.

Again, he is surrounded by multiracial boys and girls whose faces shine with a trance-like look of cherubic bliss.

These brushstrokes of light are usually reserved for portrayals of saints.

In the ’80s, Jackson became a patron to old master-style painter Brett-Livingstone Strong through several commissions; one portrait later was sold for $2.1 million. He also hired Jeff Koons for a series of three porcelain sculptures of he and Bubbles the chimp; one was later sold for $5.6 million. He commissioned 15 portraits from another artist, Paul Bedard.

Jacko also ordered up a painting of himself standing among none other than George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, the Mona Lisa and ET.

And then there is the painting seen hanging over Jackson’s king-sized bed with the crystal-laden blue bedspread. It’s the painting I know I will never forget.

It is a large and highly stylized rendition of the Last Supper, Christ’s face replaced with that of Michael Jackson’s. His disciples include Abraham Lincoln, JFK, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Walt Disney, Charlie Chaplin, Elvis and Little Richard.

This bed was the scene of the crime according to the prosecution, Jackson’s second-story sleeping loft. And the scene included a bastardized version of one of Christianity’s most revered scenes.

I wondered if the jurors noticed.

I wondered if any of the boys Jackson allows to sleep in that bed noticed.

I wondered what kind of personality would commission such a painting and hang it over his bed.