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Painters' Stroke Of Luck: Bush's Exit

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The Washington Post

Published: October 22, 2008

WASHINGTON - Behind every great man or woman in Washington there is a great painting. As the Bush presidency draws to a close, portrait artists can expect a surge in business from Cabinet secretaries and other elite political appointees who want to preserve their legacies - and their images - for posterity.

The Commerce Department, for instance, recently requested artists' bids to paint a likeness of Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, who has served since early 2005. The contract pays up to $35,000, and Gutierrez gets to select the winning painter, said Rick Dubik, the department's director of administration.

The Coast Guard in August awarded a $12,000 contract for a portrait of Adm. Thad Allen, a sharp drop from the $23,500 it spent in 2005 for a likeness of Allen's predecessor as commandant, Adm. Thomas Collins.

In a throwback to the Jimmy Carter era, some fiscal watchdogs and government scholars suggest that high-quality photographs would be a more cost-efficient way to honor departing dignitaries, especially because most portraits are largely inaccessible to the public.

The price of original portraiture ranges widely. The Washington Post examined summaries of 30 portrait contracts, most awarded with no competitive bidding, and found costs ranging from $7,500 to nearly $50,000.

At the upper end of the scale, the Defense Department awaits the expected February completion of a $46,790 portrait of former Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. It will grace a Pentagon hallway lined with portraits of his predecessors.

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