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Not all state capitals have collections of presidential portraits, but Colorado is proud to have one. However, now President Donald Trump is demanding that his portrait be removed.
"Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, at the State Capitol, put up by the Governor, along with all the other presidents, was intentionally distorted to a level that I have probably never seen before. I would much rather not have a picture than have this one," Trump posted on Truth on Sunday night.
Trump said that "a lot of people" from Colorado have complained about the portrait of him: "In fact, they're actually angry about it!" He added that he has contacted Colorado's Democratic governor, Jared Polis (whom Trump called a "Radical Left Governor" who is "extremely weak on crime") to have the portrait removed. "Jared should be ashamed of himself!" Trump concluded.
A spokesperson for the governor's office told Denver's 9News newspaper that Gov. Polis "was surprised to learn that the President of the United States is a fan of our Colorado State Capitol and its artwork. ... We appreciate the President and everyone's interest in our capitol building and are always looking for any opportunity to improve our visitor experience."
The reality is that it wasn't Polis who commissioned the Trump portrait in the first place, nor was it any political opponent of the President. And in fact, it's been around for years.
Here's what you need to know.
Funding for the portraits at the Colorado State Capitol usually comes from private donations collected by Colorado Citizens for Culture, a grassroots organization that supports the arts in the state. During Trump's first term, the group had to raise $10,000 to commission a portrait of him, but in 2018, the organization's president, Jay Seller, said not a single donation had come in.
In July of that year, a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared on an easel opposite the empty spot where Trump's portrait was expected to hang, after a member of the progressive advocacy nonprofit ProgressNow Colorado moved in. “We hope that public awareness has been raised about the danger of Russian influence on the President of the United States,” ProgressNow Colorado executive director Ian Silverii told 9News. “Next time we'll use the front door.”
The stunt sparked outrage among Republicans, making national and international headlines, but also highlighted the lack of an official portrait of Trump. Republican Kevin Grantham, then president of the state senate, started a GoFundMe to raise funds for a portrait. Within about 32 hours, the campaign met its $10,000 goal with donations from about 200 donors, including several prominent state Republicans as well as former Democratic state Rep. Dan Pabon, who told Colorado Public Radio: “The Hall of Presidential Portraits is a touring showcase for every school-age student who comes here, and I just wanted to make sure the president-elect got the full experience.”
During the portrait's unveiling ceremony in August 2019 at the State Capitol, which was billed as a nonpartisan event despite being hosted by Colorado Senate Republicans, Grantham called the crowdfunding "appropriate" for a "populist" like Trump.
Sarah A. Boardman, a British-born artist based in Colorado Springs, was commissioned to paint the portrait. Boardman had also painted the portrait of Barack Obama after Lawrence Williams, the artist who had painted all 43 previous presidential portraits, died in 2003. Boardman said at the unveiling ceremony that she tried to match the classic realist style of Williams' paintings and that it took about four months to complete the painting of Trump's portrait, which was approved in a Capitol photo vote.
Trump is not the only president who has found a portrait unpalatable. Theodore Roosevelt hated his White House portrait by French artist Theobald Chartran in 1902, saying it made him look like a "sly cat." He hid the work in his closet and eventually destroyed it and replaced it with another artist. It is unclear whether Trump's Colorado portrait faces a similar fate.
However, there is a portrait commissioned elsewhere that Trump reportedly likes much more: US special envoy Steve Witkoff told conservative media commentator Tucker Carlson on Friday that Trump was "clearly touched" after Putin recently gave Witkoff a "beautiful" portrait of the US President that the Russian President had commissioned a leading Russian artist to paint./Time
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