President Biden Orders the Smithsonian to Replace a 1967 Sculpture With a 30-Foot 'Colossus' by a Date He Picked

WASHINGTON — President Biden used a series of late-night social-media posts to instruct the Smithsonian Institution to install an 11-foot bronze statue of George Washington in the National Museum of American History by September 17, and to replace the abstract stainless-steel "Infinity" sculpture outside the building, on display since 1967, with a 30-foot "Colossus" of the first president.

The 11-foot statue was most recently seen at an IndyCar race. The 30-foot one does not yet exist. The exhibit meant to accompany both is to run through February 22, 2032, the tricentennial of Washington's birth and a date that falls, critics observed, some distance past the end of any term the President can serve.

The Press's culture desk recalls that a president dictating what a national museum displays, and by when, was described by Biden's own party as 'state-sponsored art' when its opponents proposed it and as 'restoring pride' now that its friends have. The museum, already the subject of months of White House complaints about its priorities, did not immediately respond, possibly because it was measuring the lobby.

Art historians noted that "Infinity" was itself commissioned by the federal government, which means the government is now ordering the removal of art the government ordered, a loop the sculpture's title appears to have anticipated.

At press time the Smithsonian had five days, one borrowed statue, and no crane.