The cost of official portraiture varies, but can cost taxpayers nearly $50,000

Watchdogs call for picking up a camera instead

This portrait of former Navy secretary Richard J. Danzig was painted by Joy Thomas of Murray, Ky. (Courtesy of artist Joy Thomas)

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 M. 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 Admiral Thad W. Allen, a drop from the $23,500 it spent in 2005 for a likeness of Allen's predecessor as commandant, Admiral Thomas H. Collins. "We have a very strong sense of history, and this is a critical part of it, having that formal tie to the past," said Coast Guard spokeswoman Angela Hirsch.

But investing taxpayer money in the time-honored art of official portraiture has become increasingly controversial. In a throwback to the Jimmy Carter era, 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. In a sampling, 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.

Officials say costs sometimes run higher.

At the upper end of the scale, the Defense Department awaits the expected February completion of a $46,790 portrait of controversial former secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. It will grace a Pentagon hallway lined with portraits of his predecessors, as well as one from Rumsfeld's first stint as defense secretary from 1975 to 1977, officials said.

"Thirty to $35,000, believe it or not, is actually cheap," said Dubik, who has overseen portrait commissions for several of the Commerce Department's 34 past secretaries. "Most of the artists out there, if you look at some of them and what their charges are, it's basically anywhere from $50,000 to $75,000."

By comparison, the $25,000 that NASA paid for a portrait of former administrator Daniel S. Goldin and the $29,500 that the Environmental Protection Agency spent for one of the outgoing administrator, Stephen L. Johnson, look like bargains.

Officials offer many rationales for spending to create original art, a tradition that has encompassed not only Cabinet agencies, but also the White House, Congress, and Supreme Court.

President Washington once sat for famed artist Gilbert Stuart, but in modern times lesser-known artists have dominated the world of government portraiture. Simmie Knox gained recognition for painting President Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton, but he also created portraits of former energy secretary Hazel R. O'Leary and former transportation secretary Norman Y. Mineta. Steven Polson, who is now painting Rumsfeld, boasts a list that includes former commerce secretary Ronald H. Brown, former EPA administrator Christine Whitman, and former energy secretary and UN Ambassador Bill Richardson.

Joy Thomas of Murray, Ky., who has painted Collins and former Navy secretary Richard J. Danzig, said she typically needs six to eight months to complete a work. Some portraitists work from photos, but she prefers painting from life, which requires up to 10 sittings of three hours each.

Mineta said the public should have more opportunity to view these works because they can be inspirational. He said he sometimes lingered in a hallway lined with portraits to consider his predecessors' accomplishments.

"As I go down the hallway looking at these, I just sort of thank and salute these former secretaries for the job they did," Mineta said. "And, hopefully, as some future secretary is looking at my portrait, either in transportation or commerce, they might say, 'Hey, Norm. Thanks for the job you did.' "

David Bjelajac, a professor of art history at George Washington University, said portraitists must subordinate their artistic vision to the wishes of the subject. For that reason, top-flight artists normally are not interested in accepting such commissions, he said. Still, he believes photographs offer a poor substitute.

"A photograph has an association with journalistic everyday life, whereas a painted image suggests something that transcends the moment," he said.

Elliot L. Richardson, commerce secretary under President Ford, went one step further. To commemorate his stint, he unveiled his self-portrait in 1978. "You may ask yourself, 'Why not the best?' " he said at the time. "The answer, of course, is that it's too expensive."