Washington, March 8 Shreyas Navare, an Indian cartoonist has launched a year-long, multi-city exhibition of his watercolor caricatures of past presidents of the US as the country prepares to celebrate 250th anniversary of its independence on July 4, 2026.
Titled “Hail to the chiefs”, a musical piece of Scottish origin that is now considered to be the personal anthem of US presidents and played to announce his arrival at public events, the exhibitions debuted in New York, where George Washington was inaugurated as the country's first president. It will then travel to all 50 states and the national capital, Washington DC.
“The United States, much like my home country of India, has endured over a long period of time and continues to thrive on the strength of ongoing conversations within society, all in the eternal quest for a more perfect union,” Navare said as the reason for launching the series. “As the nation gets ready to celebrate its 250th anniversary next year, I've launched this series to foster conversations and reflections on our common humanity through the blended power of art, shared history, and humor.”
Navare also said artworks seek to “bring to life the essence of the personalities of America’s early Commanders-in-Chief”. He added: “It gave me great joy to research the Presidents–from the blue coat of George Washington to the blue eyes of John Adams, as I set about rendering these American visionaries through my brush.”
Navare says he has been focussed on US politics for some time. His previous exhibition titled America in Cartoons: From Bill to Biden was took place in 2022 and covered five US Presidents--Bill Clinton, George W Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden. “Hail To The Chiefs! now builds on this previous exhibition by celebrating the rich story of America through watercolor caricatures of all US Presidents.” he said.
Navare is a cartoonist and a creative entrepreneur based in New York City.
As the Editorial Cartoonist for a leading Indian media outlet (2007-18), he covered several elections in India and the United States.
Two books of his cartoons were also published, with the foreword for the first written by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the 11th President of India. His cartoons and caricatures have been exhibited internationally, and some of his original artworks are part of the collection of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
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