On this day in history, July 9, 1828, the American painter Gilbert Stuart died at the age of 72
Gilbert Stewart, who created portraits of key figures in the American Revolution and early US history, died on this day in history on July 9, 1828.
Gilbert’s unique portrait style continues to be the way Americans today view many of the Founding Fathers and other figures central to the nation’s formative years, noted the official website of Mount George Washington’s Vernon.
“Stuart’s most iconic portrait, the Athenaeum portrait of George Washington, is the basis for the portrait of Washington on America’s one-dollar bill,” said this same source.
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Stewart was born on December 3, 1755, in Kingstown, Rhode Island. His parents were Gilbert Stewart Sr. and Elizabeth Anthony.
His father, a Scottish millwright, immigrated to New England to establish a snuff mill, according to Mount Vernon.
As a child, Stewart spent his early years in the mill house.
Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of John Jay (1745-1829) – American statesman, philanthropist, diplomat, one of the Founding Fathers and the first chief justice of the United States. Painted by the American painter Stewart (1755-1828). (World History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
After his father’s business failed, the family moved to Newport, Rhode Island, to a property his mother had inherited, the same source said.
While living in Newport, Stewart developed a love for music and drawing, the same source said.
Scottish painter Cosmo Alexander gave Stuart his earliest training in painting, and Stuart accompanied Alexander to Scotland in 1771, returning home when the older artist died, according to the National Gallery of Art .
In 1775, on the eve of the American Revolution, Stuart traveled to London. There, he worked for five years (1777-1782) as an assistant to the Anglo-American painter Benjamin West.
In 1793, Stewart returned to the United States.
Stewart exhibited his work at the Royal Academy from 1777 to 1785, reports the same source.
The success of “The Skater,” which Stewart painted in 1782, allowed him to establish his own business as a portrait painter, the National Gallery of Art said.
In 1786, he married Charlotte Coates, and the following year they went to Dublin, Ireland.
There, Stuart painted portraits of the ruling Protestant minority for more than five years, according to the same source.
George Washington delivers his inaugural address in the old city hall, New York, in front of members of Congress. (World History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)
Then, in 1793, Stewart returned to the United States.
“After the Americans defeated the British in the Revolutionary War, Stuart decided to return to the newly formed United States and find a way to make the hero to paint his most famous portrait, George Washington,” said the White House Historical Society.
He believed that if he could paint Washington, according to the same source, he would make “a fortune.”
Stewart landed in New York and interacted with several famous patrons.
In 1794, he painted a portrait of Supreme Court Justice John Jay, who introduced him to other associated clients, reporting on the White House Historical Society.
In 1795, Stuart tried to get a seat with President George Washington.
In 1795, Stuart tried to get a seat with President George Washington.
With a letter of introduction from Justice John Jay, he was successful, he added the same source.
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Stewart left New York and went to Philadelphia to paint his first portrait of President Washington in 1795.
He did not like this picture, insisting that it was too big with the man himself to make him look better, according to Mount Vernon.
“He repainted the picture from memory to improve the piece, but was still dissatisfied with the final result because it wasn’t painted from life,” said the same source.
Former President Donald Trump, under a portrait of the first US President George Washington at the White House in Washington, D.C. painter Gilbert Stewart painted three copies of Lansdowne’s portrait of George Washington, which can be seen -high – and five pictures that were closely related to it. His most famous copy has hung in the East Room of the White House since 1800. Many other artists also made copies. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Stewart had another opportunity to paint Washington in 1796.
This time he produced a full-length portrait commissioned by the Marquess of Lansdowne and the Philadelphia socialite Anne Willing Bingham, who had asked Washington to sit for him, Mount Vernon said.
Martha Washington also commissioned a portrait of her husband and one that matched herself, according to Mount Vernon.
This commission resulted in the most popular art portrait of George Washington, known as the Athenaeum portrait, according to the White House Historical Society.
Throughout his career, Stewart photographed more than 1,000 people, including the first six presidents of the United States.
“Stewart never finished the original, but used it to make many replicas of the painting, including the 1805 version,” said the same source.
“The original, unfinished painting was sold by Stewart’s daughter to the Boston Athenaeum in 1831. In 1980, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts jointly purchased the painting.”
Washington’s likeness from this photo is now featured on the United States one-dollar bill, according to multiple reports.
George Washington (1731-1799), in an engraving by W. Humphreys from 1837 – based on a portrait of Gilbert Stuart. First president from 1789 to 1797 and commander of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783. Considered as the father of the country. Published in The Gallery Of Portraits with Memoirs, London Charles Knight, Ludgate Street. (iStock)
In 1802, Stewart moved his studio to Washington DC where he was popular in the nation’s young capital and was inundated with requests for portraits from the social and political elite, the National Gallery of Art said.
Stuart painted Dolly Madison in 1804 when her husband James was Secretary of State; the appearance is considered to show “amazing undertones… and brilliant transitions in tone,” according to the White House Historical Society.
The portrait of Miss Madison became part of the White House Collection in 1994.
Stewart’s work can be found today in art museums throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.
Also, Stewart painted a portrait of President Thomas Jefferson in 1805 in Washington, D.C., at the beginning of Jefferson’s second term, according to Colonial Williamsburg’s official website.
Throughout his career, Stewart photographed more than 1,000 people, including the first six presidents of the United States.
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His work can be found today in art museums throughout the United States and the United Kingdom, notably the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Portrait Gallery -national people in London and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, according to the official website of Gilbert Stuart.
The Gilbert Stewart Museum, at his birthplace in Rhode Island, honors his legacy.
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Founded in 1930, the museum was created to honor the memory of Gilbert Stuart, to maintain a museum dedicated to him and to encourage interest in the knowledge of his life and art, says the Library of Congress.
In 1966, the Gilbert Stuart Museum was designated a registered national landmark.
