Description

From 1772 when, to please his wife, he posed for Charles Willson Peale in his uniform as colonel in the Virginia militia, until 1798, when he sat for his last portrait hardly a year before his death, Washington posed for at least eighteen, and possibly twenty-one, artists. The results were forty-six or more portraits painted from life and about four hundred and fifty copies made by the same artists from their originals.

Gilbert Stuart alone made 72 copies of his original April 1796 painting of George Washington and 104copies in total, of his 3 original paintings of the first President.

The best known portrait of George Washington, the one appearing on the dollar bill and which used to be posted in all class rooms, is unfortunately the work of Gilbert Stuart. Unfortunately for two reasons. The first, to quote Stuart himself, because: "When I painted him, he had just had a set of false teeth inserted, which accounts for the constrained expression so noticeable about the mouth and lower part of the face." The second, because we now know that Stuart disliked George Washington. In fact, we have this quote from Stuart, about the President's attitude, when he would sit for him: "an apathy seemed to seize him, and a vacuity spread over his countenance, most appalling to paint."

It has been suggested by historians that Stuart painted George Washington in an unflattering way on purpose. There is even an account that Gilbert Stuart asked the President to stuff cotton balls in his cheeks for this famous portrait, supposedly to reduce the look his new dentures gave him.

There could be some truth to this. George Washington's cheeks appear particularly puffy in the Stuart portrait, and we know that he had all sorts of trouble with his dentures and at one time complained that "they were forcing his lips out". This is certainly not the case in the Stuart painting.

The portrait offered here was executed while George Washington was President, 1789-1797. He is wearing the civilian clothes he adopted as such, instead of his previous military uniform. He looks healthy and younger than in the Stuart paintings of 95 and 96. His face looks longish as it really was. The cheeks are not puffy. The mouth and lips look natural. Some physical flaws, generally ignored by his portraitists, are in evidence. One is the scar on his left cheek, from a fistula caused by an abscessed tooth. Also visible are the tiny smallpox scars on his face. He had contracted a severe case of smallpox in Barbados, when he was 19.

Interestingly, there is another portrait of George Washington, showing the scars, and like this one, it is also executed in pastel and white wash on thick paper. It is the portrait for which he sat for William Joseph Williams in 1794.

This portrait was most likely executed in 1789. In that year Washington had contracted carbuncle and indeed the painter shows some reddishness on his face. The following year, in 1790, Washington almost died of pneumonia. He was unable to function as Chief Executive for several weeks. He took a long time to recover and came out of it tired and aged, as reflected in his subsequent portraits.

This candid portrait exhibits the quaint character typical of Colonial and early American paintings. Set in a fine Smith & Peabody frame of the 1800's.

Dimensions

18 in X 14 in (35 cm X 40 cm)

Condition

No sign of past restoration. No inpaint under UV examination. Surfaces scratches, rubbings, marks, spots, throughout. Frame has some wear and minor flaws.

Price
$14,000

Paypal has a limit of $10,000 per transaction, therefore please pay $10,000 now and the balance in a few days. Thank you.

If you would like to return here to make you second payment, please click the following PayPal button to make the balance payment.