Trump’s official portrait artist claims President’s criticism is endangering her career

The artist who painted US President Donald Trump’s official portrait at the Colorado State Capitol has broken her silence, stating that Trump’s negative comments about her work are in danger of putting an end to her decades-long career.

On March 23, in a post on Truth Social, Trump disparaged the painting of him by Colorado Springs artist Sarah A. Boardman as “really the worst” and accused her of “willfully distorting” his appearance and saying that she had to have lost her talent with time.

Boardman created Trump’s official portrait for the Capitol Rotunda in Denver, where it had been displayed since 2019. Trump compared the painting to her previous portrait of President Barack Obama, which he called “wonderful.”

Boardman made a statement on Saturday dismissing Trump’s claims and worrying about the real-world consequences of his words. “President Trump is free to comment as we all are,” she stated, according to AP. But the further charges that I ‘deliberately distorted’ the image, and that I ‘lost my talent with age’ are now having a direct and adverse effect on my 41-year-old business, which now stands in risk of failing to recover.

The artist maintained that she created the portrait pursuant to the contract provided by the Colorado State Capitol Advisory Committee and even had its work in progress as well as its reference photograph endorsed. “I painted the portrait accurately, free from ‘purposeful distortion,’ political predisposition, or attempt at caricature of the subject, actual or implied.

Portrait removed after Trump’s comments

On March 24, Colorado legislative leaders said that the portrait would be removed. By the morning of the next day, it had been removed and stored in museum storage.

The $10,000 to commission the painting had been raised by Colorado Republicans. Now, state Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen has indicated that the painting should be replaced with one “that shows [Trump’s] modern likeness.”

No replacement has been ordered yet.

Boardman reported that the reaction to her work had been generally favorable—until Trump’s tweet. “For the six years that the portrait remained in the Capitol, I had overwhelmingly positive comments and feedback,” she said. “Since President Trump’s statement, that has turned for the worse.”

She went on to say that Trump’s comment not only called into question her skills as an artist but also her integrity and motivations as an artist.

Who is Sarah A. Boardman?

British-born artist Sarah A. Boardman traveled for years throughout Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Malaysia, the Middle East, Europe, and the US working in airline business and travel—and fine art.

She was formally trained in 1985 in Germany by a master “Alt Meister,” learning Old Master techniques. She was voted top student in 1987 and 1988 and then helped teach in the atelier.

Boardman was commissioned via a statewide “Call for Artists” by the State of Colorado to create the official portraits of Presidents Barack Obama (2011) and Donald Trump (2019), which are both hung in the Denver State Capitol’s Gallery of Presidents.

She further created President George W. Bush and other public personalities, such as military officers and a District Court Judge.

Renowned for portraying the “personality, character and soul” of her subjects, she explained to the Colorado Times Recorder in 2019: “There will always be anger at a president from one side or the other. It is human nature.”

Just after the controversy, Trump‘s envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed that the White House was presented with a new portrait of Trump—this one a gift from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred to the painting as a “personal gift.” Witkoff termed it a “beautiful portrait“ by a “top Russian artist.”