The Washington Post has a new nugget today in the story of the impressive spending habits of W. Richard West, Jr., retiring director of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. In addition to the $250,000 in public money he used for luxurious travel expenses we noted last week, the Post reveals West commissioned a $48,500 portrait of himself (pictured left) that hangs in the patron’s lounge of the museum.

Some would argue that portraits of long-standing leaders — and West was not just the director, but a founder of the museum — is tradition. However, the story goes on to note that West is the only director of the 19 Smithsonian museums that has his own portrait, and furthermore, two of the trustees that West supposedly consulted before making the commission in 2005 say they were not asked, at least about paying for it with public money — one trustee says he was made to believe it was a gift from a law firm.

A Smithsonian spokesperson said the artist, of Polish descent, was chosen after they could not find a Native American with formal portrait skills. Perhaps a portrait done in a Native American style by a Native American, to hang in the National Museum of the American Indian, instead of a “traditional” Anglo-Saxon formal portrait, would have caused less of an uproar? Even if the Institution had still paid $48,500 to the artist, at least it would have gone to the people the museum is supposed to be representing.

The Post goes on to note that two U.S. Senators, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.), chair of the committee that oversees the Smithsonian, have asked for further investigations into West’s spending, as well as the spending of nearly every other museum director. West has also been removed from the committee that will select the new Smithsonian Secretary.

Image of West’s portrait courtesy the Post