Chandor's majestic, riffing study of FDR illustrates that sketches are often a much more important window into the mind of an artist than finished works.

You can see that this, an original work of great integrity, that Chandor was composing with the techniques of antiquity, refusing to use photographs. For Chandor and FDR, painting and politics had a responsibility to work together to create peace on Earth. Regardless of the feasibility of this plan by purely diplomatic means, their ambition shows great fortitude. Chandor's optimistic Latin inscription in the upper right reads, "toward a friendly family of nations." Biographer David Minor suggests that Chandor would have finished the magnificent portrait that you see in the lower-left corner of this work, under the sketch of FDR's handwriting his "classic sign of approval," "O.K., FDR." Sadly, Minor writes, Chandor did not live long enough to finish this, and Roosevelt lived only another month, although he still managed to sit for at least two hours for this portrait. We know that Chandor and FDR planned to make three versions of the work, for the U.S., U.K., and U.S.S.R., in order to symbolize the coordination of the three powers.

Another account, accepted by the owners of the portrait, holds that Stalin refused to sit for the portrait. Is it possible that both accounts are true, and that Chandor and FDR, if they had lived, would have been able to convince the Super Mario-lookin' "Man of Steel" from Georgia to pose? They probably would've needed help from Frida Kahlo.

At the same time, it's not at all surprising to hear that the Soviet leader would not be too wild about the idea, especially given the way he is conversing with the other members of the "Big Three" in this photo. Churchill, on the left, looks like a guy who is writing prize-winning memoirs, FDR looks like a guy who could run for ten more terms and win, and Stalin looks like he's playing with a pencil. If I'm being honest, my first thought, when I saw the little joyous sketch of Stalin, was that he's holding a paper fortune-teller, a form of origami we used to love back in the day, also known as the "cootie catcher" and "salt cellar." He looks a little too easygoing to be the leader of the Party, and there's someone--a waiter?--hovering over him.