The artist who painted US president Donald Trump in what he criticised as a “purposefully distorted” portrait says his remarks have harmed her business.

Colorado removed the official portrait of Trump from display in the state’s capitol building last month after the president complained that it was deliberately unflattering.

“Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the State Capitol… along with all other presidents, was purposefully distorted,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on March 24. “The artist also did president Obama, and he looks wonderful, but the one on me is truly the worst,” Trump said.

The 78-year-old Republican called for the oil painting to be taken down, and said the artist, Sarah Boardman, “must have lost her talent as she got older.” The Democrat-controlled Colorado legislature said the same day as Trump’s complaint that the painting would be removed from the gallery in the capitol’s rotunda – where it had been hung since 2019 – and placed in storage.

Boardman has responded to Trump’s complaint in a statement on her website, saying she completed the work “accurately, without ‘purposeful distortion,’ political bias, or any attempt to caricature the subject, actual or implied.”

“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,” the British-born artist said.

Boardman added in the undated statement that for the six years that the portrait of Trump has hung in the Colorado capitol, she “received overwhelmingly positive reviews” on the commissioned work.

However, since Trump’s comments “that has changed for the worst,” she said.

In addition to Trump and former president Barack Obama, Boardman was also commissioned to paint a portrait of ex-president George W. Bush. – Nampa/AFP