President Trump is being called out for claiming to own an original Renoir despite significant evidence that his painting is a copy and the real piece is on display in a Chicago museum.
President Trump is being called out for claiming to own an original Renoir despite significant evidence that his painting is a copy and the real piece is on display in a Chicago museum.
The controversy was ignited last week when Tim O’Brien, who has written a book about Trump, was interviewed on Vanity Fair’s “Inside the Hive” podcast.
The writer recounted that years ago, he was riding with the then-businessman on a private jet when he spotted the painting.
After Trump insisted it was an original, O’Brien reportedly said, “Donald, it’s not. I grew up in Chicago, that Renoir is called Two Sisters on the Terrace, and it’s hanging on a wall at the Art Institute of Chicago.”
O’Brien also recalled seeing the painting hanging in Trump’s apartment during a '60 Minutes' interview last year after he won the presidential election.
“I’m sure he’s still telling people who come into the apartment, ‘It’s an original, it’s an original,’” the writer said on the podcast.
However, Amanda Hicks, a spokesperson for the Art Institute of Chicago, recently confirmed to WMAQ that the original “Two Sisters” Renoir has been in the organization's possession since 1933.
In addition to her statement, two art experts have publicly indicated that Trump’s piece appears to be a copy.
