Presentation on portraiture and art history and it's relevance in US History and the Federalist period. Focus is on George Washington and Gilbert Stuart.

1. George Washington:
Man/Myth?
and Gilbert Stuart,
a portrait artist’s role in American Art History

2. What do we know about George from his portraits?
•How do portrait artists and sculptors contribute to art and history?
•Do we really know our first President? What telling clues are in
portraits and sculptures of him? Which artist achieved the best likeness
of him?
•Was he a major war hero, a brilliant tactician? A spy?
•Was he truly the reluctant, modest leader?
•Why does he look so serious and stoic? Did he have
false teeth? What were his teeth made of?
•Did he wear a wig, and why was his hair white in his portraits?
Washington Crossing the Delaware is an
1851 oil-on-canvas painting by German
American artist Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze.

3. Way back then...how to have manly hair!

4. GW’s false teeth
...were not
wooden!
Where did that
myth come from?

5. Gilbert Stuart’s life and career
Stuart was born in Rhode Island and studied
painting and portraiture as a young apprentice
in England and Ireland during the
Revolutionary War. He decided to return to
America after the war ended, because he was
deep in debt in both countries and was
searching for a client who would make him rich
and famous. After spending a year and a half in
New York living and painting, he traveled to
Philadelphia to paint America’s first president,
George Washington. He was commissioned by
Martha Washington, and the rest is history. His
last place of residence was Boston, MA.

6. Stuart’s pallette

7. Vaughan Williams
commission
$100
Stuart’s portraits of Washington
1795

8. 1796
Athenaeum
portraits
(unfinished)

9. 1796
Lansdowne $1000
William Bingham paid for the portrait to be
given to the Marquis of Lansdowne in England
75 copies made
original is life size
Washington is
addressing Congress
...symbols galore
Can you find
Seal of the US
A symbol of hope for
the future
Optimism, success
after the war, new
country.
Pose/Moral leadership
Eagles, with arrows
Sword

10. On the Money
The quarter image is taken from a bust of
George Washington done in his lifetime
(1786) by artist Jean-Antoine Houdon.
Houdon created a life-mask before
making several busts and sculptures.
Houdon was invited to do the work by
Ben Franklin.

11. Stuart’s portrait from Athenaeum on current Dollar bill

12. Charles Wilson Peale
Gen. George Washington, war hero
1780
How does this one differ from
Stuart’s portraits?

13. Art activity, painting a portrait!
•Paint a portrait of George Washington using Stuart’s portraits as a guide. Add your
own look, after thinking through your own impressions of Washington.*
•Watercolor paints work differently than oil, as Stuart used. Make sure you go light to
dark, starting with the light colors. Sketch your portrait first, then lay down the paint.
•Although this isn’t how Stuart actually painted the paintings (he drew with paint and
laid colors down right next to each other, not blending), this is a great way to learn to
see details in portraits, and practice.
•Just do your best with this one, portraits are really difficult! Make your best rendition
of George Washington’s presidential look. *Keep to the essence of Washington’s
character and include symbols if you like.
••Materials: watercolor paper, pencil, watercolor paints, 2 brushes, water, paper towel.

14. Sample, step-by-step
Sketch with pencil, paint and do your best! (challenging!)
George Washington – by Charles Willson Peale
(Washington at age 40)

15. How would you portray George Washington?

16. National Geographic’s The Real George Washington

17. Gilbert Stuart and the Washington portraits
Video discussion of
Athenaeum show
at Mt. Vernon

18. Ellen Miles - Lansdowne portrait

20. Notes....
3 portraits from life. Vaughan Samuel portrait, the Athenaeum (Boston) and the
Lansdowne Portrait. Marquis of Lansdowne. Sent as a gift by William Bingham
Washington was Stuart’s most important sitter. Washington was in his 2nd term as
President. He wanted to paint him to gain fame and fortune, to pay his debts. 1793,
1795. People were curious to see Washington’s image.
Stuart loved to chat up his clients, however Washington was stoic when he wasn’t
talking about topics that interested him. George Washington’s wife, Martha,
commissioned Stuart first, she pressed to have their portraits painted.
Portrait shows the character of the individual….much pressure to acquire a likeness.
Can you describe Washington’s character and temperament from each portrait or
sculpture you’ve seen?

21. Gallery!
Pilot class, PM

23. Gallery - first class

24. Gilbert Stuart painted the following notables:
Abigail Adams - Second First Lady of the United States, wife of John Adams
John Adams - Second President of the United States
John Quincy Adams - Sixth President of the United States
John Jacob Astor - First American multi-millionaire, fur trader, art patron
John Bannister - Owner of Bannister's Wharf in Newport, Rhode Island
Commodore John Barry - Father of the American Navy
Ann Willing Bingham - Philadelphia socialite
Horace Binney - Prominent Philadelphia lawyer
Hugh Henry Brackenridge - early American writer, Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice, and founder of the University of Pittsburgh[40]
Jean Baptiste Casmiere Breschard - Performer and theatrical impresario
Rosalie Stier Calvert - Belgian born heiress and mother of Charles Benedict Calvert
Mary Willing Clymer - Philadelphia socialite
John Singleton Copley - American colonial portraitist
Horatio Gates - American Revolutionary War general
King George III - King of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1760–1820
King George IV - King of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1820-1830
John Jay - First Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court
Thomas Jefferson - Third President of the United States
Rufus King - a signer of United States Constitution.
Robert Kingsmill - Admiral in Royal Navy during American and French Revolutionary Wars
King Louis XVI - King of France, 1774 - 1792
James Madison - Fourth President of the United States
Daniel McCormick - New York merchant and banker[citation needed]
Samuel Miles - Revolutionary War General, Philadelphia Mayor, and America's first faithless elector
James Monroe - Fifth President of the United States
Daniel Pinckney Parker - Prominent Boston Merchant
John Randolph of Roanoke - Virginia Congressman and Senator[40]
Joshua Reynolds - English artist
Henry Rice - Boston merchant and Massachusetts state legislator[40]
Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney, in whose honour the cities of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia and Sydney in Nova Scotia, Canada, are named, in 1785 and 1788 respectively.[40]
George Washington - First President of the United States
Martha Washington - First First Lady of the United States, wife of George Washington
Benjamin West - American painter
Catherine Brass Yates - Philadelphia socialite