Colorado’s Democratic lawmakers said Thursday they would temporarily replace an $11,000 portrait of President Trump in the state Capitol with a painting donated by the White House after he previously criticized the original artwork.
Former state Sen. Lois Court (D), chair of the Colorado Capitol Building Advisory Committee, made the decision to decommission Sarah Boardman’s portrait of the president following his outspoken criticism of the image.
The new portrait created by Vanessa Horabuena of Tempe, Ariz., is “currently being framed” Court told The Colorado Sun.
Trump has requested that the painting be printed with a golden border so it would catch the light and “glimmer,” The Guardian reported.
The Colorado Capitol Building Advisory Committee is expected to discuss which Trump portrait will permanently hang in the Capitol by September.
“Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the State Capitol … was purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before,” Trump wrote about Boardman’s painting in a March post on Truth Social.
“In any event, I would much prefer not having a picture than having this one,” he added.
After his comments, state Republicans urged leaders to remove the painting, which Colorado’s former senate president Kevin Grantham (R) raised thousands to commission for “tourists, visitors, and Colorado history buffs” to enjoy.
Boardman, who painted former President Obama’s portrait in the Capitol, said her painting of Trump is historically neutral.
“My portrait of President Trump has 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,” she told Art News.
The image was unveiled in 2019, and Boardman says she has since faced financial repercussions due to the president’s criticism, according to The Colorado Sun.
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