
Neoclassical portrait painter Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828) created the definitive image of George Washington that has appeared on the one-dollar bill for over a century. Born in Rhode Island to a Scottish immigrant family, he showed early artistic talent and left for London in 1775 to escape the Revolutionary War, studying under Benjamin West.
Stuart spent eighteen years abroad, building a successful portrait practice in London and Dublin before returning to America in 1793 with a specific goal. "I expect to make a fortune by Washington alone," he wrote. He was right. Washington sat for Stuart three times, producing three distinct portrait types: the "Vaughan" portrait, the unfinished "Athenaeum" head (the dollar bill image), and the full-length "Lansdowne" portrait. Stuart made over 100 replicas of these images during his lifetime. When painting the Athenaeum portrait, Stuart noted Washington had just gotten new false teeth, which accounts for the constrained expression around the mouth.
Stuart painted each of the first five U.S. presidents from life, along with most of their wives. His gift for capturing a likeness made him America's foremost portraitist. The National Gallery of Art holds the Lansdowne portrait. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston owns the Athenaeum portraits of both George and Martha Washington. Works also hang at the Metropolitan Museum and the White House.
2 paintings catalogued with museum locations
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