The American artist, Gilbert Stuart is best remembered for his classical portraiture of personages in the early days of the formation of the new nation. His portrayals were a balance between careful representations and romanticized simplifications. Acknowledged as the greatest American portrait painter of the 18th century, he is credited with having created a uniquely American portraiture style. In his extremely productive artistic career, he executed over a thousand portraits; among them the initial six American presidents. The iconic pictorial representation of George Washington as the country’s father and the portraits of Washington that are reproduced on the US dollar bill, as well as various 19th and 20th century postage stamps, are Stuart’s creations.
The Rhode Island-born Stuart moved residence when just seven to Newport, where he first showed glimpses of his artistic talent. He received training from Cosmo Alexander and at the tender age of 12, produced the celebrated “Dr. Hunter's Spaniels” portrait that still finds a place of pride at the Hunter residence. By the time he was 14, his fame was already established and he had commenced accepting regular painting assignments. In 1771, along with his mentor, Alexander, he travelled to Scotland to finish his education but the demise of his teacher made his subsistence in an alien country difficult and forced a return to Newport the following year.
Stuart sought sanctuary in Britain following the eruption of the American War of Independence. He enrolled at the Glasgow University and after graduation, took up residence in London and commenced training under emigre artist, Benjamin West. However, Stuart had no interest in historical painting that West excelled in and took up portraiture. Possessed of an unusual degree of talent, Stuart swiftly rose to the top of the ranks of the portrait painters and encourage by West, commenced showing at the Royal Academy in London in 1777. Acknowledged by his peers for his talent, his compositions fetched high prices from his subjects but Stuart’s profligacy left him no option but to flee the country to Dublin to evade his creditors. In Dublin, he continued his brilliant career and his extravagant lifestyle.
He ultimately returned to USA in 1793 and established his studio in Philadelphia after a brief stay in New York. He soon became one of the nation’s foremost portrait painters and developed a unique style of American portraiture with his distinguished brushwork, brilliant color palette and psychological prescience. His works were typified by robust characterization and assured brushwork. He relied on his own powers of observation and was never influenced by any of his illustrious predecessors.
Stuart’s greatest achievement is perhaps his numerous portraits of George Washington, many of them proved immensely popular and kept him engaged in production of copies; The most illustrious of these being “The Athenaeum” that was reproduced on the US one dollar banknote. Such was the reception of this portrait that Stuart ultimately executed no less than 130 copies of the unfinished original that is now displayed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
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