Jon McNaughton

Jon Austin McNaughton (born November 1967) is an American artist. He is known for his paintings depicting American conservative political figures, in particular prominent Republicans, and Christian imagery. He began his style of political painting during the Barack Obama administration, creating works in support of the Tea Party movement. He subsequently became a supporter of Donald Trump.

Career McNaughton is from Provo, Utah, and studied art at Brigham Young University. After graduating, he worked in finance for eight years,

His early work mainly dealt with landscapes, religion and subjects related to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which over time moved towards right-wing politics.

In 2012, Rachel Maddow's blog used his work The Forgotten Man as a caption contest, which led to an increase in sales for McNaughton. "kitsch realist", and as a middle ground between realism and impressionism. and Monica Hesse described him as "one of the most significant painters of the current era".

Commentators, including Ben Davis and Jennifer Greenhill, professor of art history at University of Southern California, have said that his work is primarily designed for "digital consumption", and highlighted the links between his paintings and internet memes and internet culture. Others, such as Greenhill and Andrew O'Hehir in Salon, have highlighted how McNaughton's knowledge of art history allows him to use famous historical paintings to complement his messages.

Steve Rose in The Guardian, while describing The Forgotten Man, identified McNaughton's work in the tradition of Norman Rockwell. Rose went on to say that McNaughton's art "provokes derision and parody more than outrage". Pulitzer Prize winning art critic Jerry Saltz described McNaughton's art as “bad academic derivative realism,” and “typical propaganda art, drop-dead obvious in message” which "panders and preaches to the converted and tells them what they already believe."

The Salt Lake Tribune has nicknamed McNaughton the "Provo provocateur."

Personal life McNaughton is married, a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and went on a mission for his faith to Japan in his youth. In the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, McNaughton supported Ted Cruz, and following Trump's victory, described himself as a "Trump observer" instead of a supporter.