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George Washington

Maker (American, 1755 - 1828)
ClassificationsPAINTINGS
Date1797
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions28 1/2 x 23 5/8 in. (72.4 x 60 cm.) frame: 35 1/4 x 30 5/16 x 3 in. (89.5 x 77 x 7.6 cm.)
Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Gift of Mrs. Alexander Baring
Label TextGilbert Stuart portrayed George Washington gazing resolutely from the canvas, confronting the viewer. Stuart animated the surface of the portrait by using quick, lively brushstrokes such as those that delineate Washington's lace shirt ruffle and his wig. This lightness of touch is characteristic of Stuart's handling of paint.

Between 1795 and 1796, George Washington sat for three portraits by Stuart. This version, a bust-length image of Washington facing left, is an early replica of the Athenaeum type, so called because Stuart's original was owned by the Boston Athenaeum. Stuart made approximately 75 replicas of the Athenaeum Washington, which has become the iconic image of the first president of the United States, serving as the basis for his engraved portrait on the one-dollar bill. Another example of Stuart's Athenaeum-type portraits of Washington is on view in the dining room of the Huntington Art Gallery.
Status
On view
Object number39.1
Exhibitions
George Washington
Gilbert Stuart
1819
Object number: 19.11
Lawrence Reid Yates
Gilbert Stuart
ca. 1793-1796
Object number: 19.8
Portrait of a Young Girl
Gilbert Stuart Newton
n.d.
Object number: 91.220
Sketch Showing the Mode of Drawing Adopted by Children
Gilbert Stuart
1806
Object number: 99.9
Gloucester Landscape
Stuart Davis
1919
Object number: 2006.9
George Washington
Charles Peale Polk
1790-1793
Object number: 19.2
George Washington
Rembrandt Peale
n.d.
Object number: 19.1
George Washington
Charles Willson Peale
after 1779
Object number: 19.13
Sandy Hook
Frederick Stuart Church
1889
Object number: 86.17
Trumpeter
John Gilbert
1858
Object number: 59.55.584
Valentine
John Gilbert
1885
Object number: 59.55.585