Colorado State Capitol portrait of Donald Trump
| Colorado State Capitol portrait of Donald Trump | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Sarah A. Boardman |
| Year | 2019 |
| Subject | Donald Trump |
A painted portrait of President Donald Trump began to be displayed in the Colorado State Capitol as part of a series of presidential portraits in 2019 and was removed following complaints from Trump in 2025 regarding the portrait's supposed likeness. It was painted by Sarah A. Boardman.
Background
[edit]
The portrait was painted for the collection of presidential portraits displayed at the Colorado State Capitol.[1] The portraits are funded by the Colorado Citizens for Culture through private donations. $10,000 was required to fund a portrait of Trump during his first presidency, but no donations had been received by 2018.[1] In a July 2018 stunt the empty place where Trump's portrait would have hung was briefly occupied by a portrait of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, displayed on an easel.[1][2] The stunt was carried out by a member of the nonprofit progressive advocacy organization ProgressNow Colorado, who had been let into the state capitol by a Democratic legislative staffer.[2] The executive director of ProgressNow, Ian Silverii, said that they hoped public awareness had been raised over the "the danger of Russian influence over the President of the United States" and that next time "we'll use the front door".[1] The president of the state senate, Kevin Grantham, subsequently started a successful GoFundMe campaign to pay for the portrait of Trump, the $10,000 target was raised in 32 hours from 200 donations.[1] The portrait was unveiled in an August 2019 ceremony at the state capitol hosted by the Republican members of the Colorado senate.[1]
Description
[edit]The portrait was painted by Sarah A. Boardman in a classical realist style, to match the other portraits in the series. The previous 43 portraits had been painted by Lawrence Williams. Boardman painted the portrait of Barack Obama after Williams' death in 2003.[1] The portrait took Boardman four months and was based on a photograph approved by the Capitol Building Advisory Committee.[1] Boardman said that her portrait had "been called thoughtful, non-confrontational, not angry, not happy, not tweeting...In five, 10, 15, 20 years, he will be another President on the wall who is only historical background, and he needs to look neutral".[1]
Reactions
[edit]On March 23, 2025, Trump wrote on Truth Social "Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the State Capitol, put up by the Governor, along with all other Presidents, was purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before" and that he would "much prefer not having a picture than having this one".[1] Trump wrote that "many" Coloradans had complained about the portrait to him and were "actually angry about it". Trump concluded by stating that he had contacted the governor of Colorado, Jared Polis to ask him to remove the portrait from display and that Polis should be "ashamed of himself!".[1] He also said Obama's portrait "looks wonderful".[3] Polis had no involvement in the commissioning and unveiling of the portrait.[1] Grantham said that he was "a little surprised" by Trump's complaint as he "[hadn't] heard any dissent over it—in fact, quite the opposite" and people had liked it. Grantham said he had been contacted by Polis who had agreed with him that it was "not a big deal".[1] Grantham felt "sorry to see" Trump "going off of misinformation given to him or maybe making assumptions" about the creation and display of the portrait.[1]
The portrait was taken down following a request by Paul Lundeen, the Colorado State Senate minority leader, who wanted it to be replaced with one that "depicts his contemporary likeness".[1] Polis said that he was "surprised to learn the President of the United States is an aficionado of our Colorado State Capitol and its artwork" and that he appreciated "the President and everyone’s interest in our capitol building and are always looking for any opportunity to improve our visitor experience".[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Jeyaretnam, Miranda (24 March 2025). "The Real Story Behind Colorado's 'Distorted' Portrait of Trump". Time (magazine). Retrieved 25 March 2025.
- ^ a b Irwin, Lauren (24 March 2025). "Trump demands Colorado take down 'purposefully distorted' painting". The Hill (newspaper). Retrieved 25 March 2025.
- ^ Olivares, José (24 March 2025). "'Insecure baby': Trump draws ridicule after throwing fit over Colorado capitol portrait". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
