Jumbo Painters

In Saturday's Daily Mail, Desmond Morris pondered jumbo art and failed to arrive at any firm conclusion (title link). Elephants certainly can be trained to paint, as shown by this photo from northern Thailand where their handlers earn money by entertaining tourists. They're following in the footsteps of Hong, another Asian elephant artist (CLICK). The skill with which a jumbo can trunk a paintbrush beats Morgan the sea lion (CLICK) and the piglets of Trotters Independent Painters (CLICK). But all of them beat Mark Rothko hands down (CLICK). Or should that be trunks down, flippers down and trotters down? I wonder, Desmond, do you think those handlers in Thailand could teach Rothko to paint?