Gilbert Stuart's Portrait of George Washington, Which Appears on The

Volume 8 Number 112

Gilbert Stuart Part I

Lead: Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of George Washington, which appears on the one-dollar bill, was, ironically, an unfinished portrait, but through numerous reproductions, it has become an American icon.

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: Born in 1755, Gilbert Charles Stuart was the son of a snuff miller. He grew up near Newport, Rhode Island. Stuart demonstrated an early talent for drawing, and about the age of 14, he began his study under an itinerant Scottish portrait painter, Cosmo Alexander. Working as his assistant, Stuart accompanied Alexander through the southern colonies and then to Edinburgh. The untimely death of Cosmo Alexander left Gilbert Stuart stranded in Europe without funds. He worked his way back to America from London as a crewman on a collier.

Hostilities between Britain and her North American colonies were heating up in 1775 when nineteen-year-old Stuart returned to London. His father was a loyalist and Gilbert saw his chances of a career as an artist were better in Europe. It was a struggle at first, but after five years as an apprentice to American painter Benjamin West, Stuart received his first public recognition. His portrait, The Skater (now hanging in the National Gallery of Art), received high praise at the Royal Academy in 1782. Stuart opened his own studio and began painting the wealthy and prominent of Europe’s elite, Kings George III, George IV and French King Louis XVI. With his high fees Stuart acquired expensive tastes.

His extravagant lifestyle brought with it debt, and in 1787 he fled London to escape his creditors. Stuart spent five years in Dublin, at least some of the time in debtors’ prison, painting portraits to earn his release. In 1793 Stuart returned to America, leaving behind debt, a cluster of unfinished commissions, and a shattered reputation. Next Time: the unfinished Washington. Research assistance by Ann Homans Johnson, at the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts. Resources

Evans, Dorinda. The Genius of Gilbert Stuart. Princeton: University Press, 1999.

“Gilbert Stuart Birthplace” http:/www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/6365/stuarthist.ht ml

Meisler, Stanley. “Gilbert Stuart.” Smithsonian August 2001: 60- 66.

National Gallery of Art, Tour: Gilbert Stuart (American, 1755- 1828) Overview http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg60a/gg60a- over1.html

“Stuart, Gilbert” Early American Paintings http://www.worcesterart.org/Collection/Early_American/Ar tists/stuart/biography/content.html

“Stuart, Gilbert” Encyclopedia Britannica http://www.britannica.comm/eb/article?eu=71843[Accessed November 22, 2002].