About the Artist |
Gilbert Stuart, the painter of the Lansdowne Portrait, was described as “preeminent” and “the most prestigious portraitist of his day”, possibly one of the only people worthy of painting a portrait of George Washington from life.(4) Stuart was born in Newport, Rhode Island but later moved to the United Kingdom, where he lived for eighteen years.(5) After deciding to move back to the United States he painted multiple portraits of John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, through which he met George Washington.(6) During Stuart’s lifetime he generated a long list of subjects, the most memorable being Washington. The most recognizable Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington is, in fact, not the Lansdowne Portrait, but the unfinished painting featured on the front of the American one dollar bill.(7) Through George Washington and the Lansdowne Portrait, Gilbert Stuart was able to make a name for himself in the United States.
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