Gibbons portrait hung without fanfare

The hastily commissioned portrait of Gov. Jim Gibbons was hung in the entrance to the Capitol Friday.

But unlike with previous governors, there was no fanfare, no speeches, in fact, no ceremony at all.

Only two reporters and a couple of employees who work in the Capitol watched as a Buildings and Grounds crew hung the nearly 5-foot-tall oil painting of Gibbons next to the painting of his predecessor Kenny Guinn.

The governor did not attend because he is still having difficulty getting around because of the damage to his pelvis in a fall from a horse, according to staff.

In the painting, a smiling Gibbons is seen in a gray suit with blue tie, casually resting his hand on a windowsill. Over his shoulder is a picture of an F-4 Phantom jet like the one he flew as part of the Nevada Air Guard's photo reconnaissance unit.

The painting was commissioned in June as an emergency measure by the Interim Finance Committee. Normally, the governor's portrait is funded by the Legislature during the governor's second term in office.. The 2009 Legislature didn't make that appropriation because to do so would have assumed the governor would lose his bid for re-election.

Gibbons was defeated in the June 8 primary by Brian Sandoval.

The commission including frame cost $20,000 - the same amount spent on Guinn's portrait. The artist, Michele Rushworth of Washington state, also painted Guinn.

The portrait is required by NRS and one has been done of every governor in state history. All are displayed in the first and second floors of the state Capitol.