A new portrait of President Donald Trump—painted by Tempe, Arizona, artist Vanessa Horabuena and donated by the White House—now hangs in the Colorado Capitol. It replaced a previous painting that Trump criticized as unflattering.
The portrait by Horabuena, which was installed this week, presents a sharper and more somber depiction of Trump compared to the earlier version painted by Colorado Springs artist Sarah Boardman.
The decision to hang the new artwork was made on Thursday by Lois Court, a former state lawmaker who now chairs the Capitol Building Advisory Committee, which oversees the Capitol’s art displays in downtown Denver.
“There was a blank on the wall. It seemed inappropriate. We knew that the White House had sent us this replacement and it simply made sense to put it up,” Court said. She added that the White House had donated the portrait by Horabuena about a month ago.
Lawmakers responded swiftly, announcing the removal of Boardman’s portrait the next day. By the following day, the painting was taken down and placed in museum storage.
On Tuesday, the Colorado statehouse was quiet, with lawmakers out of session and few visitors present. A handful of tourists stopped to take photos of the new portrait.
The image, shot by official White House photographer Daniel Torok, marks a return to the historical style of presidential portraits with no American flag in the background, but Trump does wear a Stars and Stripes lapel pin on his jacket.
“The President is the most well-known person on the planet, and this new portrait taken during his second term reflects the optimism and resolve of America,” a White House official said in an email to The Epoch Times, sister media of NTD.
The Capitol Building Advisory Committee is now considering whether to replace all presidential portraits with those of past Colorado governors in celebration of the state’s 150th anniversary next year.