Gilbert Stuart

Infobox Artist
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name = Gilbert Stuart


imagesize = 250px
caption = A Self Portrait of Gilbert Stuart, Painted in 1778
birthname = Gilbert Charles Stewart [cite web|url=http://www.worcesterart.org/Collection/Early_American/Artists/stuart/biography/index.html|title=Gilbert Stuart (1775–1828)|publisher=Worcester Art Museum|accessdate=2008-02-04]
birthdate = December 3, 1755
location = Saunderstown, Rhode Island, United States
deathdate = Death date and age|mf=yes|1828|7|9|1755|12|3
deathplace = Boston, Massachusetts, United States
nationality = American
field = Painting
training =
movement =
works = "George Washington (The Athenaeum Portrait)" (1796) "George Washington (Lansdowne portrait)" (1796) "George Washington (Vaughan Portrait)" (1795) "The Skater" (1782) "Self-Portrait" (1778) "Catherine Brass Yates" (1794) "John Jay" (1794) "John Adams" (1824)
patrons =
influenced by =
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Gilbert Charles Stuart (born Stewart) (December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter from Rhode Island.

Gilbert Stuart is widely considered to be one of America's foremost portraitists. His best known work, the unfinished portrait of George Washington that is sometimes referred to as "The Athenaeum", was begun in 1796 and left incomplete at the time of Stuart's death in 1828. The image of George Washington featured in the painting has appeared on the United States one-dollar bill for over one century. [http://www.gilbertstuartmuseum.com/ Gilbert Stuart Birthplace and Museum] . "Gilbert Stuart Biography". Accessed July 24, 2007.]

Throughout his career, Gilbert Stuart produced portraits of over 1,000 people, including the first six Presidents of the United States. [http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/6365/stuarthist.html Gilbert Stuart Birthplace] , "The Story of Gilbert Stuart". Woonsocket Connection. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.] His work can be found today at art museums across the United States and the United Kingdom, most notably the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the National Portrait Gallery in London, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/stuart_gilbert.html ArtCyclopedia] . Gilbert Stuart. Paintings in Museums and Public Art Galleries. Accessed July 24, 2007.]

Biography

Early life

Gilbert Stuart was born in Saunderstown, Rhode Island in 1755 and baptized at Old Narragansett Church. [ [http://www.visitrhodeisland.com/attractions/propertyDetail.aspx?id=494&ref=/attractions/index.aspx Rhode Island Unwind] . "Gilbert Stuart Birthplace". Accessed: July 28, 2007.] He was the third son of Gilbert Stewart, [ [http://www.nndb.com/people/313/000049166/ NNDB] . Gilbert Stuart. Father. Accessed: July 25, 2007.] a Scottish immigrant employed in the snuff-making industry, and Elizabeth Anthony Stewart, a member of a prominent land-owning family from Middletown, Rhode Island. Stuart's father worked in the first colonial Snuff Mill in America, which was located in the basement of the family homestead. [McLanathan, Richard. "Gilbert Stuart". New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc., 1986. p13]

Gilbert Stuart moved to Newport, Rhode Island at the age of seven, where his father pursued work in the merchant field. In Newport, Stuart first began to show great promise as a painter. [ [http://www.gilbertstuartmuseum.com/index.htm Gilbert Stuart Birthplace] . "Gilbert Stuart". Accessed: July 28, 2007.] He was tutored by Cosmo Alexander, a Scottish painter. [ [http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2005/stuart/newport.shtm National Gallery of Art] . "Gilbert Stuart". Newport and Edinburgh (1755-1775). Accessed: July 28, 2007.] Under the guidance of Alexander, Stuart painted the famous portrait "Dr. Hunter's Spaniels", which hangs today in the Hunter House Mansion in Newport, when he was 12-years-old. [ [http://www.woonsocket.org/stuarthist.html Woonsocket: My home town on the web] . Rhode Island. Gilbert Stuart. Accessed: July 25, 2007.]

Stuart moved to Scotland with Alexander in 1771 to finish his studies. His mentor died in Edinburgh the following year. Attempting briefly and without success to earn a living as a painter, he returned to Newport in 1773.

England and Ireland

Stuart's prospects as a portraitist were jeopardized by the onset of the American Revolution and its social disruptions. Following the example set by John Singleton Copley, Stuart departed for England in 1775. [http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2005/stuart/london.shtm National Gallery of Art] . "Gilbert Stuart". London (1775-1787). Accessed: July 31, 2007.] Unsuccessful at first in pursuit of his vocation, he then became a protegé of Benjamin West, with whom he studied for the next six years. The relationship was a beneficial one, with Stuart exhibiting at the Royal Academy as early as 1777.

By 1782 Stuart had met with success, largely due to acclaim for "The Skater", a portrait of William Grant. At one point, the prices for his pictures were exceeded only by those of renowned English artists Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough. Despite his many commissions, however, Stuart was habitually neglectful of finances and was in danger of being sent to debtors' prison. In 1787 he fled to Dublin, Ireland, where he painted and accumulated debt with equal vigor. [ [http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2005/stuart/dublin.shtm National Gallery of Art] . "Gilbert Stuart". Dublin (1787-1793). Accessed: July 31, 2007.]

New York and Philadelphia

Stuart returned to the United States in 1793, settling briefly in New York City. In 1795 he moved to Germantown, Pennsylvania, near (and now part of) Philadelphia, where he opened a studio. [cite web|url=http://www.americanrevolution.org/washstu.html|title=Gilbert Stuart - Washington|accessdate=2007-11-25|publisher=AMERICANREVOLUTION.ORG] [cite web|url=http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/hall2/georges.htm|title=George Washington|accessdate=2007-11-25|publisher=Smithsonian Institution] It was here that he would gain not only a foothold in the art world, but lasting fame with pictures of many important Americans of the day.

Stuart painted George Washington in a series of iconic portraits, each of them leading in turn to a demand for copies and keeping Stuart busy and highly paid for years. [ [http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2005/stuart/philadelphia.shtm National Gallery of Art] . "Gilbert Stuart". Philadelphia (1794-1803). Accessed: July 31, 2007.] The most famous and celebrated of these likenesses, known as "The Athenaeum", is currently portrayed on the United States one dollar bill. Stuart, along with his daughters, painted a total of 130 reproductions of "The Athenaeum". However, Stuart never completed the original version; after finishing Washington's face, the artist kept the original version to make the copies.cite web|author=|Wallechinsky, David and Irving Wallace|url=http://www.trivia-library.com/c/unfinished-art-gilbert-stuart-portrait-of-george-washington.htm|title=Unfinished Art: Gilbert Stuart's Portrait of George Washington|accessdate=2008-04-21|work=The People's Almanac|publisher=Trivia-Library.com] He sold up to 70 of his reproductions for a price of US$100 each, but the original portrait was left unfinished at the time of Stuart's death in 1828. The painting now hangs in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts.

Another celebrated image of Washington is the "Lansdowne portrait", a large portrait with one version hanging in the East Room of the White House. During the burning of Washington by British troops in the War of 1812, this picture was saved through the intervention of First Lady Dolley Madison. Gilbert painted 12 versions of the portrait throughout his life. Most of the U.S. states feature a copy of the painting hanging in their state capitol. In 1803, Stuart opened a studio in Washington, D. C.. [ [http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2005/stuart/washington.shtm National Gallery of Art] . "Gilbert Stuart". Washington, DC (1803-1805). Accessed: July 31, 2007.]

Death in Boston

Stuart moved to Boston in 1805, continuing in critical acclaim and financial troubles. In 1824 he suffered a stroke, which left him partially paralyzed. Nevertheless, Stuart continued to paint for two years until his death in Boston at the age of 72. [McLanathan, Gilbert Stuart, p148] He was buried in the Old South Burial Ground of the Boston Common. As Stuart left his family deeply in debt, his wife and daughters were unable to purchase a grave site. Stuart was therefore buried in an unmarked grave which was purchased cheaply from Benjamin Howland, a local carpenter. [McLanathan, Gilbert Stuart, p150] When Stuart's family recovered from their financial troubles roughly ten years later, they planned to move his body to a family cemetery in Newport, Rhode Island. However, since his family could not remember the exact location of Stuart's body, it was never moved. [Wolpaw, Jim. "Gilbert Stuart: A Portrait from Life (9-Minute Trailer)". Documentary.]

Controversy

" " to "Ricketts" and to this day the NGA has failed to explain the reason for this identity change. [ [http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pinfo?Object=3166+0+lit National Gallery of Art] . John Bill Ricketts, 1795/1799. Accessed: July 24, 2007.]

Legacy

By the end of his career, Gilbert Stuart had taken the likenesses of over one thousand American political and social figures. He was praised for the vitality and naturalness of his portraits, and his subjects found his company agreeable:

Stuart was known for working without the aid of sketches, beginning directly upon the canvas. This was very unusual for the time period.

His works can be found today at art museums throughout the United States and Great Britain, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the National Portrait Gallery in London, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Today, Stuart's birthplace in Saunderstown, Rhode Island is open to the public as the Gilbert Stuart Birthplace and Museum. The museum consists of the original house Stuart was born in, with copies of paintings from throughout his career hanging throughout the house. The museum opened in 1930.

Famous people painted

*Abigail Adams - Second First Lady of the United States, wife of John Adams
*John Adams - Second President of the United States
*John Quincy Adams - Sixth President of the United States
*John Bannister - Owner of Bannister's Wharf in Newport, Rhode Island
*Ann Willing Bingham - Philadelphia socialite
*Horace Binney - Prominent Philadelphia lawyer [http://www.nndb.com/people/313/000049166/ NNDB] , Gilbert Stuart, Executive Summary. Accessed: July 25, 2007.]
*Jean Baptiste Casmiere Breschard - Performer and theatrical impresario
*John Singleton Copley - American colonial portraitist
*Horatio Gates - American Revolutionary War general
*King George III - King of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1760 - 1820
*John Jay - First Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court
*Thomas Jefferson - Third President of the United States
*King Louis XVI - King of France, 1774 - 1792
*James Madison - Fourth President of the United States
*James Monroe - Fifth President of the United States
*John Bill Ricketts - Founder of first circus in the United States
*George Washington - First President of the United States
*Martha Washington - First First Lady of the United States, wife of George Washington
*Benjamin West - American painter
*Catherine Brass Yates - Philadelphia socialite

References

External links

* [http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2005/stuart/index.shtm Gilbert Stuart at the National Gallery of Art, Washington]
* [http://www.gilbertstuartmuseum.com/ Gilbert Stuart Museum Website]
* [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/stuart_gilbert.html Gilbert Stuart on ArtCyclopedia]

Persondata
NAME = Stuart, Gilbert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Stewart, Gilbert Charles (birth name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Painter
DATE OF BIRTH = December 3, 1755
PLACE OF BIRTH = Saunderstown, Rhode Island, United States
DATE OF DEATH = July 9, 1828
PLACE OF DEATH = Boston, Massachusetts, United States