Hunter Biden makes flashy NYC art scene debut at gallery show for his pricey paintings
First son Hunter Biden acted like a full-fledged member of the New York art scene Wednesday evening, making a flashy appearance at the gallery where his unexpectedly pricey paintings are being displayed.
The 51-year-old fledgling artist, accompanied by wife Melissa Cohen, carried son, Beau Jr., on his shoulders as he ducked inside the Georges Berges Gallery in Soho without stopping to answer questions from a Post reporter.
The Bidens were joined inside by around 60 guests — including President Joe Biden’s younger sister, Valerie — a far bigger turnout than the mere three potential buyers who examined Hunter’s canvases at the gallery on the second day after showings started.
The gallery appeared to have taken precautions against prying eyes, installing a curtained vestibule outside the front door with curtains hanging over the glass.
Outside, two Secret Service agents and a team of private security people — as well as one K-9 — kept watch.
Wednesday’s appearance followed Biden’s debut in Los Angeles last month, where he rubbed elbows with boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard. Other attendees at the Hollywood show included Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti — the president’s nominee to be ambassador to India — as well as musician Moby and artist Shepard Fairey, who created the iconic “Hope” poster for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.
Hunter’s suddenly successful art career has caused an uproar among Republicans and ethics experts, who warn that buyers could shell out up to $500,000 with the idea of gaining favor and influence with the artist’s powerful father.
Last month, after The Post reported that five of the first son’s prints had sold for $75,000 apiece — and that prospective buyers were being vetted by a team of lawyers — White House press secretary Jen Psaki brushed off questions about whether the identity of purchasers would remain anonymous, per the terms of an agreement with gallery owner Berges.
That earned Psaki a rebuke from Walter Shaub, a former head of the federal Office of Government Ethics during the Obama administration.
“These are legitimate questions … There is no ethics program in the world that can be built around the head of state’s staff working with a dealer to keep the public in the dark about the identities of individuals who pay vast sums to the leader’s family member for subjectively priced items of no intrinsic value,” Shaub tweeted at the time.
“If this were Trump, Xi [Jinping] or [Vladimir] Putin, you’d have no doubt whatsoever that this creates a vehicle for funneling cash to the first family in exchange for access or favors. Nor would you doubt that the appearance of monetizing the presidency was outrageous,” Schaub said.
The Post has previously reported instances of Hunter Biden trading on his father’s name.
Most notably, in April 2015, emails obtained from a laptop belonging to Hunter detailed how he introduced then-Vice President Biden to an executive at Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
Months later, Biden pressured Ukraine’s government to fire a prosecutor who was investigating the company.
This post first appeared on Nypost.com
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