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Shown from the chest up, an older man with pale, peachy skin, wearing a high-collared black coat and a cream-white, ruffled collar, is shown against a deep wine-red background in this vertical portrait painting. His body is angled to our right and he turns his face to look at us with gray eyes under pale gray eyebrows. He has a hooked nose and jowls along his chin line. His cheeks are flushed and his lips are set in a line. His white hair flares out along the sides of his head and is tied at the nape of his neck with a ribbon loosely painted and outlined with black. His ink-black coat has silvery gray highlights along the high collar and his right shoulder, to our left. The background is painted with light brushstrokes, deepening from scarlet red around his face to black at the upper corners.

Gilbert Stuart

George Washington (Vaughan portrait), 1795

Not on View

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 73 x 60.5 cm (28 3/4 x 23 13/16 in.)

framed: 100.3 x 87.3 cm (39 1/2 x 34 3/8 in.)

Credit Line

Andrew W. Mellon Collection

Accession Number

1942.8.27

Artists / Makers

Gilbert Stuart (painter) American, 1755 - 1828

Image Use

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Overview

Gilbert Stuart was exclusively a portraitist; in his five-decade career, he produced well over 1100 pictures, less than ten of which were not likenesses. Of these portraits, nearly one-tenth are images of George Washington, to whom he was introduced by their mutual friend Chief Justice John Jay. Stuart's 104 known likenesses of the first president are divided into categories named after the owners of Stuart's originals, from which he made his own replicas: the National Gallery's George Washington (Vaughan portrait) was purchased by Samuel Vaughan, a London merchant who was the president's close friend.

A charming conversationalist, Stuart would chat while painting, thereby entertaining his sitters to maintain the freshness of their expressions during the long hours of posing. To the serious and taciturn Washington, however, Stuart's glib wit was annoying. The artist claimed, "An apathy seemed to seize him, and a vacuity spread over his countenance, most appalling to paint." Nevertheless, this image has spontaneity because of its quick, sketchy handling. To impart the sixty-three-year-old subject's imposing physical presence, Stuart placed the head high in the design. Finally, he added the crimson glow that complements Washington's ruddy complexion and surrounds his head like a superhuman aureole.

More information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century, pages 201-206, which is available as a free PDF at https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/american-paintings-18th-century.pdf

Inscription

on reverse of the original canvas, in a contemporary or slightly later hand (now covered by the lining canvas): "General Washington By Mr. Stuart. 1795

Provenance

Purchased by John Vaughan, Philadelphia, for his father, Samuel Vaughan [1720-1802], London; his son, William Vaughan [1752-1850], London;[1] purchased around 1851 by Joseph Harrison, Jr. [1810-1874], Philadelphia;[2] his widow, Sarah Poulterer Harrison [1817-1906]; sold (M. Thomas and Sons, Philadelphia, 12 March 1912, no. 30) to Thomas B. Clarke [1848-1931], New York;[3] his estate; sold as part of the Clarke collection on 29 January 1936, through (M. Knoedler & Co., New York), to The A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1942 to NGA.

[1] Frederic Fairchild Sherman, "Gilbert Stuart's First Portrait of Washington from Life: The Vaughan Picture Painted in 1795," Art in America" 11, no. 1 (December 1922), 44; John Hill Morgan and Mantle Fielding, The Life Portraits of Washington and their Replicas, Philadelphia, 1931, 250. On Vaughan see Memoir of William Vaughan, Esq. F.R.S., London, 1839.

[2] The painting was "purchased from the late Wm. Vaughan, Esq., London," according to Catalogue of Pictures, Statuary, and Bronzes in the Gallery of Joseph Harrison, Jr., Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, 1870, 6. According to Portraits by Early American Artists of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries Collected by Thomas B. Clarke, Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1928 (unpaginated), Harrison bought the portrait in 1851 from the Vaughan family. On Harrison see Nicolas B. Wainwright, "Joseph Harrison Jr., a forgotten art collector," Antiques 102, no. 4 (October 1972), 661, who says that Harrison bought Joseph Wright's portrait of Benjamin Franklin, now at The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, from the same source, which he does not identify. A search of Harrison's letterbooks at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania did not yield further documentation of the purchase.

[3] Philadelphia Art Galleries, Paintings, Statuary, etc. The Remainder of the Collection of the Late Joseph Harrison, Jr., Philadelphia, 1912, 31; the auction was scheduled for 26 February 1912 but was postponed to 12 March. The paid invoice dated 12 March 1912 is in the NGA archives (copy, NGA curatorial file). The name of the seller, date of purchase, and price are recorded in a copy of the 1928 Clarke exhibition catalogue annotated with information from files of M. Knoedler & Co., NY (copy in NGA curatorial records and in NGA library) and in "Paintings Sold at Auction, October 1911-October 1912," American Art Annual 10 (1913), 65, where the portrait is reproduced opp. 19.

Associated Names

Clarke, Thomas Benedict
Harrison, Jr., Joseph
Harrison, Sarah Poulterer
Knoedler & Company, M.
Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, The A.W.
Thomas and Sons, M.
Vaughan, John
Vaughan, Samuel
Vaughan, William

Exhibition History

1880: Exhibition of Portraits Painted by Gilbert Stuart, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1880, no. 262

1887: Loan Exhibition of Historical Portraits, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1887-1888, no. 448

1889: Centennial Celebration of the Inauguration of George Washington; Loan Exhibition of Historical Portraits and Relics, Metropolitan Opera House, New York, 1889, no. 30

1926: A Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Early American Portrait Painters, The Century Association, New York, 1926, no. 1.

1928: Portraits by Early American Artists of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, Collected by Thomas B. Clarke, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1928-1931, unnumbered and unpaginated catalogue.

1929: Exhibition of Historical Portraits, 1585-1830, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, 1929, unnumbered

1932: George Washington Bicentennial Historical Loan Exhibition of Portraits of George Washington and his Associates, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1932, no. 12

1940: Masterpieces of Art. European & American Paintings 1500-1900, New York World's Fair, 1940, no. 181.

1944: Gilbert Stuart: Portraits Lent by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1944-1945, no. 12

1946: American Painting from the Eighteenth Century to the Present Day, Tate Gallery, London, 1946, no. 203

1967: Gilbert Stuart, Portraitist of the Young Republic, 1755-1828, National Gallery of Art; Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, 1967, no. 27

1968: Presidential Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, 1968, unnumbered

1972: Harry D.M. Grier Memorial Loan Exhibition, The Frick Collection, New York, 1972, no. 11

2004: Gilbert Stuart, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; National Gallery of Art (for the National Portrait Gallery), Washington, D.C., 2004-2005, no. 35, repro.

2016: America's Presidents Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 2016-2017, no catalogue.

Bibliography

1789: Lavater, Johann Caspar. Essays on Physiognomy, designed to promote the Knowledge and Love of Mankind. Edited by Thomas Holloway. 3 vols. London, 1789-1798: 3:repro. between 434 and 435, 435.

1846: Lester, C. Edwards. The Artists of America. New York, 1846: 129-130.

1855: Tuckerman, Henry T. "Original Portraits of Washington." Putnam's Monthly 6 (October 1855): 345-347.

1858: Peale, Rembrandt. "Washington and his Portraits." Unpublished lecture, Charles Roberts Autograph Letters Collection, Haverford College, Pennsylvania, in Miller 1980 (fiche VIB/19F11-20B14: 16, 20-21), and reprinted in Eisen 1932, I:297-323.

1860: Custis, George Washington Parke. Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington. Edited by Benson J. Lossing. New York, 1860: 520-523, 628.

1867: Tuckerman 1867, 115-120, 630.

1869: Dunlap, William. A History of the Rise and Progress of The Arts of Design in the United States. 2 vols. Reprinted in 3. New York, 1969 (1834): 1:196-206.

1870: Catalogue of Pictures, Statuary, and Bronzes in the Gallery of Joseph Harrison, Jr., Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia. Philadelphia, 1870: 6-7, no. 22.

1876: Stuart, Jane. "The Stuart Portraits of Washington." Scribner's Monthly 12, no. 3 (July 1876): 369, 373-374.

1879: Mason, George C. The Life and Works of Gilbert Stuart. New York, 1879: 87-91.

1880: Hart, Charles Henry. "Mason's Life of Stuart." The American Art Review 1 (March 1880): 220-221.

1880: "Portraits Painted by Stuart...taken from Mason's Life and Works of Gilbert Stuart." In Exhibition of Portraits Painted by Gilbert Stuart. Exh. cat. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1880: 25, no cat. number.

1882: Johnston, Elizabeth Bryant. Original Portraits of Washington, including Statues, Monuments and Medals. Boston, 1882: 91-93.

1889: Hart, Charles Henry. "Original Portraits of Washington." Century Magazine 37, no. 6 (April 1889): 865.

1892: Bowen, Clarence Winthrop. The History of the Centennial Celebration of the Inauguration of George Washington as First President of the United States. New York, 1892: repro. opp. 12, 544-545.

1904: Hart, Charles Henry. Catalogue of the Engraved Portraits of Washington. New York, Grolier Club, 1904, p. 126, no. 259.

1922: Sherman, Frederic Fairchild. "Gilbert Stuart's First Portrait of Washington from Life; The Vaughan Picture Painted in 1795." Art in America 11, no. 1 (December 1922): frontispiece, 43-45.

1923: Eisen, Gustavus A. "Stuart's Three Washingtons." International Studio 76, no. 309 (February 1923): 386-394, repro.

1923: Fielding 1923, 83, 85-87, 114, no. 1, repro. frontispiece and opp. 114.

1926: Park 1926, 845, no. 1, repro.

1928: Portraits by Early American Artists of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, Collected by Thomas B. Clarke. Exh. cat. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1928, unnumbered.

1930: Sherman, Frederic Fairchild. "Gilbert Stuart's Portraits of George Washington." Art in America 18, no. 6 (October 1930): 261-270, repro.

1930: Weddell, Alexander Wilbourne, ed. A Memorial Volume of Virginia Historical Portraiture, 1585-1830. Richmond, 1930: 215, repro. between 16 and 17, opp. 216.

1931: Morgan & Fielding 1931, 223, 225-232, 236, 250, 347-352, repro. opp. 224 and opp. 250.

1932: Eisen, Gustavus A. Portraits of Washington. 3 vols. New York, 1932: 1:plate III, 7-11, 21, 35-37, 39.

1932: Whitley 1932, 93-95.

1939: Decatur, Stephen. "Stuart's First Life Portrait of Washington." Antiques 35 (February 1939): 70-72, repro.

1944: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Masterpieces of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1944: 142, color repro.

1949: Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 138, repro.

1963: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 321, repro.

1964: Mount 1964, 186-195, 378.

1966: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:384, color repro.

1967: Richardson, Edgar P. "Portraits of Washington, 1795-1796." In Gilbert Stuart: Portraitist of the Young Republic, 1755-1828. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1967: 25-30.

1970: American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 106, repro.

1972: Wainwright, Nicholas B. "Joseph Harrison, Jr., a forgotten art collector." Antiques 102 (October 1972): 660-668, pl. I.

1975: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 387, color repro.

1980: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 236, repro.

1980: Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 55, repro.

1983: Miller et al. 1983

1984: Evans, Dorinda. "Gilbert Stuart: Two Recent Discoveries." American Art Journal 16, no. 3 (Summer 1984): 85-88, repro.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 383, no. 542, color repro.

1988: Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 58, repro.

1989: Verheyen, Egon. "The Most exact representation of the Original': Remarks on Portraits of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart and Rembrandt Peale." In Multiple Originals, Copies, and Reproductions. Egon Verheyen, ed. Studies in the History of Art 20, Symposium Papers 7 (1989): 127-139.

1992: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 349, repro.

1992: National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1992: 220, repro.

1993: Evans, Dorinda. "Survival and Transformation: The Colonial Portrait in the Federal Era." In The Portrait in Eighteenth-Century America. Edited by Ellen G. Miles. Newark and London, 1993: 130, repro. 132, 133.

1995: Miles, Ellen G. American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1995: 201-206, color repro. 203.

1997: Henderson, Anne. "Portraits & Personalities." Washington Parent (November 1997): 14.

2004: Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 292-293, no. 239, color repro.

2013: Evans, Dorinda. Gilbert Stuart and the Impact of Manic Depression." Burlington, 2013: 62-64, 88-89 nn. 28 and 29, 173, figs. 30, 31, color pl. VIII.

2016: Rather, Susan. The American School: Artists and Status in the Late Colonial and Early National Era. New Haven, 2016: 186-188, color fig. 141, 195.