Artist Appeals Smithsonian Rejection of Trump Portrait to Supreme Court

Julian Raven, a British immigrant to the U.S., got his citizenship in 2015 while working on his magnum opus, a humongous portrait of Donald Trump complete with a bald eagle rescuing an American flag. He brought a picture of the portrait to Trump Tower and met Trump in person. He took the portrait on tour in Iowa. He showed the portrait in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. When he submitted this historic artwork for consideration by the Smithsonian, he expected a fair hearing according to the Smithsonian’s own rules. Instead, he got a politically-motivated rejection, and an insult from the National Portrait Gallery director herself.

Raven filed a lawsuit, and he has appealed his case all the way to the Supreme Court. There is good reason to think the Court may take up his case, since it would give the Court an opportunity to clear up the Smithsonian’s oft-confused legal status.

via pjmedia.com

The portrait would be better if it had a soundtrack which I’m sure could be arranged.