Australia’s Richest Woman Demands Museum Remove 'Offensive' Portrait Of Her

Australia’s richest individual has reportedly demanded that anunflattering portrait of her by an Indigenous artist be removed from the country’s national gallery.

Gina Rinehart, a mining heiress and multibillionaire, personally pressed the director and chair of the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra to strip the painting from its walls after it first went on display in March, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The gallery declined the request and has reportedly since received more than a dozen complaints from Rinehart’s business associates and financial beneficiaries following her campaign efforts, according to the Herald.

Attempts to reach Rinehart’s representatives and the museum for comment were not immediately successful.

The painting, which depicts Rinehart with a double chin and a droopy eye, nose and lips, is one of 21 similarly styled cartoonish portraits that make up Vincent Namatjira’s collection titled “Australia in Colour.” Others portrayed in the collection include England’s King Charles III, his late mother Queen Elizabeth, musician Jimi Hendrix, and AC/DC guitarist Angus Young.

“I paint the world as I see it,” Namatjira responded to the criticism in a statement toCNN and various other news outlets. “People don’t have to like my paintings, but I hope they take the time to look and think, ‘why has this Aboriginal bloke painted these powerful people? What is he trying to say?’”

Namatjira is from Indulkana in Southern Australia and has reflected on his heritage and the ongoing impact of Australia’s colonial history in his work, which includes prior, similarly styledpaintings of Rinehart.

“I like to paint with a little bit of humour, humour takes away some of their power and keeps us all equal,” he