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Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
National
Kim Janssen

Trump thinks he owns Renoir, but Art Institute says real one hangs in Chicago

CHICAGO _ There are two versions of French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir's "Two Sisters (On The Terrace)."

One has hung in the Art Institute of Chicago since 1933.

The other is in President Donald Trump's New York apartment.

But one of them is a fake _ and the Art Institute says it isn't the one in Chicago.

Trump, apparently, disagrees.

Trump biographer Tim O'Brien _ who was raised in Chicago and knew the painting well _ told Vanity Fair's "Inside the Hive" podcast that he first challenged Trump over the authenticity of Trump's "Renoir" years ago on the real estate mogul's private jet, where it once hung.

Even after O'Brien pointed out that the real Renoir hangs in Chicago, Trump continued to insist his was real, telling him, "You know, that's an original Renoir," O'Brien said.

And after Trump sold the jet, the "Renoir" apparently made its way to Trump Tower in New York, where it was visible in the background during an interview he gave "60 Minutes" after his 2016 election victory.

"I'm sure he's still telling people who come into the apartment, 'It's an original, it's an original,'" O'Brien said on the podcast.

"He believes his own lies in a way that lasts for decades," O'Brien added. "He'll tell the same stories time and time again, regardless of whether or not facts are right in front of his face."

Art Institute spokeswoman Amanda Hicks said the institute is "satisfied that our version is real." The Renoir was gifted to the Art Institute in 1933 by Annie Swan Coburn, who purchased it for $100,000 from the art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel, who purchased it from the artist in 1881, Hicks said.

The White House did not respond to questions about the provenance of Trump's "Renoir."

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