A painter who caught headlines for ‘purposely distorting’ an image of President Donald Trump says her business may never recover.
Sarah Boardman, the British painter who made a portrait of Trump to be hung in the Colorado Capitol, has lifted the lid on how her business has been pummeled after the Republican posted a furious response to her work.
‘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,’ Trump said of Boardman’s work last month.
‘The artist also did President Obama, and he looks wonderful, but the one on me is truly the worst,’ the Republican continued.
‘She must have lost her talent as she got older,’ the 78-year-old president added.
The day after the president’s fiery response to the artwork, which was hanging in the state capitol for six years, the portrait was removed and placed in storage.
The portrait was first unveiled in 2019 during Trump’s first stint in the White House.
For the first time since the removal of her work, Boardman has spoken out about the financial ramifications of her high-profile painting getting ripped by MAGA supporters across the country.
Donald Trump savaged artist Sarah Boardman for painting an ‘unflattering’ portrait of him which was hung in the Colorado Capitol
Sarah Boardman, a British native, studied classical realism while living in Germany in the 1980s and has painted portraits of several presidents
Boardman also painted Obama (both portraits side by side) during his stint in the White House
In a statement provided to Sky News, Boardman admitted that she feels her integrity and intentions have been ‘called into question’ and that her business ‘is in danger of not recovering.’
‘President Trump is entitled to comment freely, as we all are, but the additional allegations that I ‘purposefully distorted’ the portrait, and that I ‘must have lost my talent as I got older’ are now directly and negatively impacting my business of over 41 years which now is in danger of not recovering,’ Boardman said.
The British painter noted that the portrait received ‘overwhelmingly’ positive feedback for the first six years the picture was displayed in the capitol.
‘For the six years that the portrait hung in the Colorado State Capitol Building Rotunda, I received overwhelmingly positive reviews and feedback,’ she said.
‘Since President Trump’s comments, that has changed for the worst,’ she added.
All of her work on the presidential portrait was approved by the Colorado State Capitol Advisory Committee, she claimed.
‘The reference photograph and my subsequent ‘works in progress’ were all approved, throughout that process, by that committee,’ Boardman stated.
‘I completed the portrait accurately, without ‘purposeful distortion’, political bias, or any attempt to caricature the subject, actual or implied,’ she added. ‘I fulfilled the task per my contract.’
The president demanded Democrat Governor Jared Polis remove the artwork
Boardman was also commissioned to paint former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush.
Trump claimed last month that ‘many people from Colorado have called and written to complain’ about the unflattering artwork.
The Republican also blamed Colorado Gov. Jared Polis for allowing the ‘distorted’ artwork to be hung.
‘Jared should be ashamed of himself,’ the president wrote at the time.
