Trump has previously stated that the portrait is "intentionally distorted" and demanded that it be taken down from its place in the Colorado State Capitol building. On the other hand, he thinks that former President Barack Obama "looks wonderful" in Boardman's depiction.
"No one likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the state congress building, which the governor, together with all other presidents, put up, was intentionally distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before", Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social at the end of March.
Sarah Boardman says in a statement on her website that she performed her assignment carefully, without a political agenda and without any intention of caricaturing the subject of the depiction.
"President Trump has the right to express his opinion, like everyone else, but the accusation that I 'intentionally distorted' the portrait and that I 'lost my talent' when I got older has now had direct negative consequences for my business".
During the six years the painting has hung in the Colorado State Capitol building, she has also received "overwhelmingly positive reactions" – until now. Boardman has worked as an artist for over 40 years, but is now afraid that the uproar surrounding the portrait has permanently damaged her business.
