The Works Of Gilbert Stuart

( Originally Published 1906 )

DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PLATES

'GEORGE WASHINGTON' PLATE I

STUART painted three portraits of Washington from life. The first, ac-cording to his own statement, he "rubbed out;" the second is the well-known full-length painted for the Marquis of Lansdowne and called the" Lansdowne Washington;" the third is the still more celebrated portrait here reproduced, known as the "Atheneum Washington," from the fact that after the artist's death it was presented by the Washington Association and other gentle-men to the Boston Atheneum, to which it still belongs, though for many years it has been loaned to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, where it now hangs.

Of the first portrait—the one which Stuart said he erased—several versions exist, all showing the right side of the face, whereas the "Lansdowne" and the "Atheneum" show the left side. The most widely known of these earliest portraits is the so-called Gibbs-Channing picture, now belonging to Mr. S. P. Avery, of New York.

Of the second portrait, the full-length, Stuart made many copies. Ac-cording to his written statement the original was sent to England, where it is now owned by the Earl of Rosebery. Of late years, however, it has been claimed that the actual canvas painted from life is that bearing Stuart's signature now in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia.

As to the genuineness of the third portrait, the one here reproduced, no dissenting voice has ever been raised. It was painted in Stuart's studio in Germantown, Philadelphia, and although the President had just had a badly fitting set of false teeth inserted, accounting for the somewhat constrained expression about the mouth, both sitter and artist were satisfied with the success of the portrait. Indeed, Stuart himself was so well pleased with it that he asked Washington's permission to retain both it and the portrait of Mrs. Washington, painted at the same time and left unfinished, as was that of the President's, promising to furnish Washington with replicas.

It has been said that this portrait is not so much a likeness as an "ideal head," and that one or another version of Stuart's first or second portrait is a more faithful presentment of the man. This may be so; but the "Athenaeum Washington" is the "Household Washington," and few pictures are more celebrated than this world-renowned portrait. It has been copied by countless artists, good, bad, and indifferent, and engraved more than three hundred times. Stuart himself used to call it his "hundred-dollar bill," for if at any time in need of money he had but to make a replica of his "Washington," and his copy was sure to find a ready purchaser.

In speaking of this portrait Washington Allston said, "Well is Stuart's ambition justified in the sublime head he has left us; a nobler personification of wisdom, and goodness, reposing in the majesty of a serene countenance, is nOt to be found on canvas."

THE MARQUIS AND MARCHIONESS DE CASA YRUJO' PLATE II

IN the summer of 1796 Señor Don Carlos Martinez de Yrujo, afterwards created Marquis de Casa Yrujo, was despatched by the King of Spain as envoy entraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the United States. A handsome man, of medium stature, with florid complexion, blue eyes, "hair powdered like a snowball," and dressed in the height of the fashion, the young Spaniard created a sensation in the society of the "Republican Court" then assembled in Philadelphia. In Stuart's fine portrait of him here reproduced, showing him in coat of brown velvet and with head and shoulders relieved against a cloud-flecked blue sky, the painter,with his peculiar genius for transcribing to the canvas the individuality of his sitter, has admirably portrayed the distinguished bearing and prOud spirit of the young marquis.

It was at a state dinner in Philadelphia that the Spanish minister was introduced to Miss Sally McKean, daughter of Thomas McKean, chief justice and afterwards governor of Pennsylvania. Although then barely nineteen, Miss McKean was one of the reigning belles of that day, and by her wit and beauty at once completely captivated the marquis. Their marriage took place in the spring of 1798, and for nearly ten years following they continued to live in America, removing to Spain. in 1807.

Stuart's portrait of the Marchioness de Casa Yrujo, reproduced in plate u as a companion picture to that of her husband, and painted, as was his, soon after their marriage, shows us a charming woman, graceful and high-bred, portrayed with. all that distinction in the style and beauty of coloring which mark Stuart's best works.

In addition to these portraits of the marquis and his American bride, Stuart painted twO likenesses of each, which are now in the possession of the family in Spain. The two given in plate u are owned by Mrs. Thomas McKean, of Philadelphia, by whose permission they are here reproduced.

'MRS. TIMOTHY PICKERING' PLATE III

THERE is no more beautiful example of Stuart's skill than this portrait of Mrs. Timothy Pickering, painted between 1816 and 1818. Mrs. Pickering is represented seated in so natural an attitude that there is no suggestion of being "posed." Her black silk gown with folds of soft muslin about the throat, her cap of the same sheer material, trimmed with lace, and the ermine-bordered mantle of a deliciOus shade of old rose color which has fallen from her shoulders, are all painted with a care and finish seldom bestowed by Stuart upon the accessories of his portraits, while on the finely modeled face with its delicate flesh-tones his brush has evidently lingered with loving touch.

Mrs. Timothy Pickering, who befOre her marriage was Rebecca White, was born in England, in 1754. While still a child she came to America with her parents, and when twenty-two married Colonel Timothy Pickering, who later became one of the prominent men of the country, holding high government positions of honor and trust.

Mrs. Pickering has been described as "not only one of the most amiable and lovely of women, but a woman of strong character and great bravery." In appearance she was "slight and somewhat smaller than the average woman, very quiet, reserved in her demeanor, with marked gentleness in movement and expression." To the end of her life, it was said, "she continued most lovely in her bearing, her fair complexion never losing its beautiful bloom."

Stuart's portrait of her is owned by her great-granddaughter, Mrs. John G. Walker, of Washington, D. C., by whose permission it is here reprOduced.

'JOHN RANDOLPH OF ROANOKE' PLATE IV

AN eloquent orator of magnetic personality, but erratic, and passionate in disposition, John Randolph of Roanoke was for a period of more than thirty years one of the most conspicuous figures in the history of our country. Born in Virginia in 1773, he early entered political life, and from 1799 until within a year or two of his death, in 1833, occupied at various times the positions of congressman, United States senator, and minister to Russia.

John Randolph has been called "a strange compound of contradictory elements;" certainly to his eccentric, ill-balanced character there were two distinct sides. The nobler traits, as his biographer Henry Adams has said, were caught by Gilbert Stuart in the portrait here reproduced. "Open, candid, sweet in expression, full of warmth, sympathy, and genius," writes Mr. Adams, "this portrait expresses all his higher instincts, and interprets the mystery of the affection and faith he inspired in his friends."

Mr. Randolph was thirty-two when he sat to Stuart for this portrait, which is justly regarded as one of the most beautiful productions of the painter's brush. He wears a dark blue coat with a velvet collar, a light gray vest, and négligée shirt. His eyes are brown, his hair is light brown tinged with auburn, his complexion fair. In the background to the left a curtain is drawn aside, revealing a glimpse of trees and sky. For many years the picture hung at Roanoke, Mr. Randolph's country-seat in Virginia, and at his death passed into the possession of his half-brother, Judge Beverley Tucker, whose grand-son, Mr. Charles Washington Coleman, of Washington, D. C., is the present owner. The picture is temporarily placed in the loan collection of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, and is reprOduced in MASTERS IN ART by permissiOn of Mr. Coleman.

'HON. JONATHAN MASON AND MRS. MASON' PLATE V

JONATHAN MASON, one of Massachusetts' eminent men, was born in Boston in 1756. He early gained distinction at the bar, and later in the legislature of Massachusetts and as United States senator and member of the House of Representatives gave constant proof of those sterling qualities which have made his name an honored one in the annals of his state and country.

Stuart's portrait of him, beautiful in treatment and in expression, which is here reproduced by permission of its owner, Dr. Henry F. Sears, of Boston, was painted in Washington in 18o5. Mr. Mason, then in the Senate of the United States, was a liberal patrOn of Stuart's and it was at his solicitation that the artist soon afterwards removed to Boston, and there opened a studio.

The portrait of Mrs. Jonathan Mason, also reproduced in plate v, was painted in the same year as was her husband's. Mrs. Mason is represented seated on a light olive-green sofa, dressed in white embroidered muslin with a scarf of a delicate shade of mauve, the color subdued by a covering of white lace, draped about her. Upon her auburn hair she wears a white muslin turban, greenish gray in tone. Her eyes are hazel and her color brilliant. The picture, an especially fine example of Stuart's work, is owned by Miss Mabel Gertrude Mason, of Boston, by whose permission it is here reproduced.

'CAPTAIN JOSEPH ANTHONY' PLATE VI

AMONG the finest examples of Stuart's work is this portrait Of Captain Joseph Anthony, painted in Philadelphia between 1794 and 1798, during the artist's residence in that city after his return from England. Captain AnthOny, a native of Rhode Island, was for many years a prominent and highly esteemed citizen of Philadelphia, where he was engaged in extensive ship-building interests. He was the brother of Gilbert Stuart's mother, and it was he who gave the painter his start in life after the young man's return to Newport from his first trip to Scotland with Cosmo Alexander.

At the time Stuart painted this portrait Captain Anthony was about sixty years of age. He is dressed in a dark blue coat with brass buttons, a buff waist-coat, and white stock. The face is vigorously drawn, and the painting rich and mellow in tone. The portrait is On canvas, and measures nearly three feet high by two feet four inches wide. It is owned by Mr. J. Rudolph Smith, of Philadelphia, by whose permission it is here reproduced.

'MISS NANCY PENINGTON' PLATE VII

"THIS picture," writes Mr. Charles Henry Hart, "is one of the most interesting of the portraits of women that Stuart limned. It is interesting in itself as a characteristic portrait of a young woman, beautifully executed; but it has the added interest of having received the highest possible mark of approval frOm the great painter when he affixed his signature to the canvas."

From the date which follows this signature, legible in the original picture beneath the window to the left, we learn that Nancy Penington's portrait was painted in 1805-one year before the young girl's death, which occurred when she was but twenty-one. She is dressed in a black velvet gOwn with delicate white lace around the low, square-cut neck. The chair in which she is seated is upholstered in crimson damask, and in her hands she holds a miniature attached to a long chain worn about her throat and neck. Her hair is auburn, her eyes hazel, her skin very fair, and her cheeks red with a somewhat hectic flush. In the distance, through an open window,is seen a landscape suggestive of the scenery on the banks of the Delaware River near Bordentown,New Jersey, Nancy Penington's home. The picture is still in possession of the family, and is here reproduced by permission.

'MR. AND MRS. JAMES GREENLEAF' PLATE VIII

STUART'S portrait of James Greenleaf was painted in 1795, when Mr. Greenleaf was thirty years old. It is now in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, and is here reproduced by permission.

In speaking of this picture, Mr. George C. Mason says: "It is a perfect gem of modeling and color in Stuart's purest manner. It represents a remarkably handsome man with hair powdered and tied in a queue. He is dressed in a double-breasted blue coat with gilt buttons, large white neckerchief, and ruffled shirt. The background is a rich crimsOn curtain festooned to show in the distance the blue and cloud-flaked sky. Nothing finer as a work of art ever proceeded from Stuart's easel."

James Greenleaf, son of the Hon. William Greenleaf, of BOston, was born in that city in 1765. When very young he was appointed consul of the United States to Amsterdam, where he amassed a large fortune. After his return to America in 1795 he embarked in speculation, founding with Robert Morris and John Nicholson the celebrated North American Land Company, which resulted not only in the utter ruin of its originators, but of all who had invested money in the gigantic scheme.

Mr. Greenleaf, in i800, married for his second wife Miss Ann Penn Allen, eldest of the three daughters of James Allen, founder of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and granddaughter of William Allen, chief justice of the Province of Pennsylvania before the Revolution. Miss Allen was celebrated as "one of the most splendid beauties this country ever produced." In Stuart's charming portrait of her, given in plate VIII, she is dressed in white muslin with a blue sash. The contour of her face, her beautiful eyes and delicate eyebrows, and the exquisite flesh-tints of her face and neck offered a subject worthy of the artist's brush.

Stuart painted Mrs. Greenleaf three times. One picture is now in France, another is in California, and one is in Philadelphia, in possession of Mrs. Herbert M. Howe, by whose permission it is here reproduced.

'THOMAS JEFFERSON' PLATE IX

OF the numerous portraits of Thomas Jefferson by Stuart, three were painted from life, Of which the picture here reproduced by permission is one. Painted in Philadelphia in i800, when Jefferson, then vice-president of the United States, was fifty-seven years old, it is a masterly example of the painter's art. Stuart sold it to the Hon. James Bowdoin, who at his death bequeathed it to Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, where it nOw hangs in the Walker Art Gallery, belonging to that institution. After his removal to Boston Stuart more than once visited the college in order to copy this portrait and the one of Madison which it also owns.

Jefferson was six feet two and a half inches tall, erect in his carriage, and of commanding presence. His features were regular, his eyes hazel, and in youth his hair was reddish. Stuart has here represented him seated before a table on which his right hand rests. His coat is a velvety grayish black, contrasting with the dull red of the chair and table-cover. The column in the back-ground is of a neutral shade, olive in tone, and the heavy curtain, drawn aside to reveal a glimpse of blue sky and white clouds, is a pinkish purple, shading almost into brown. The canvas, which measures a little over four feet high by three feet five inches wide, is in excellent condition, the colors well preserved.

'MRS. WILLIAM JACKSON' PLATE X

M RS. WILLIAM JACKSON, who before her marriage was Elizabeth M Willing, was the second daughter of Mr. Thomas Willing, prominent as a merchant and financier in Philadelphia during Washington's administration. Though not so beautiful as her older sister, the celebrated Mrs. Bing-ham, the acknowledged leader of Philadelphia society of that day, Mrs. Jack-son was exceedingly charming both in person and manner, and her marriage with MajOr Jackson,Washington's aide de camp and private secretary, gave her marked distinction in the circle of the Republican Court.

In Stuart's beautiful portrait Of Mrs. Jackson she is dressed in a white muslin gown with delicately painted ruffles edging the low-cut neck and short sleeves. Her eyes are brown, her hair slightly powdered, and she wears a turban of white muslin toning into gray, placed upon her curls. The picture is owned by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, where it now hangs. It is here reproduced by permission.

A LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL PAINTINGS BY STUART IN PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

AS most of Stuart's portraits are in private possession and constantly changing hands, it would be an almost impossible task to make a complete list of his works which would be of any permanent value. The following list includes only such as are in collections accessible to the public.

ENGLAND. LONDON, NATIONAL GALLERY: Benjamin West; Gilbert Stuart—LONDON, NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY: Isaac Barré; John Hall; John Philip Kemble; Benjamin West; William Woollett—UNITED STATES. BALTIMORE, MARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY: George Washington; Charles Carroll of Carrollton— BALTIMORE, PEABODY INSTITUTE: Timothy Pickering (loaned)—BALTIMORE, WALTERS COLLECTION: George Washington—BOSTON, MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: George Washington (loaned by Boston Athenæum) (Plate 1); Mrs. Washington (loaned by Boston Athenæum); Washing-ton at Dorchester Heights (loaned by City of Boston); General Henry Knox (loaned by City of Boston); Hon. Josiah Quincy; Samuel Alleyne Otis; Mrs. Richard Yates; Governor Brooks (loaned); Rev. John Sylvester Gardiner (loaned); Colonel Joseph May (loaned); Mrs. Oliver Brewster (loaned) —BOSTON, BOSTON ATHENAEUM : Thomas Clement, Sr.; James Perkins; Rev. Joseph Stevens Buckminster; William Smith Shaw —BOSTON, BOSTONIAN SOCIETY: Commodore Isaa . Hull (loaned)—BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL: Samuel Eliot; William Phillips—BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY: Edward Everett; Jeremiah Allen—BRUNSWICK, ME., BOWDOIN COLLEGE, WALKER ART GALLERY: Thomas Jefferson (Plate Ix); Hon. James Bowdoin; Mrs. James Bowdoin; James Madison—CAMBRIDGE, MASS., HARVARD UNIVERSITY [MEMORIAL HALL] : John Quincy Adams (finished by Thomas Sully); Fisher Ames; Joseph Story; [UNIVERSITY HALL] Samuel Eliot; Benjamin Bussey —CHICAGO, ART INSTITUTE: Two Portraits of Washington (loaned)—HARTFORD, CONN., STATE HOUSE: George Washington—HARTFORD, CONN., WADSWORTH ATHENÆUM: Unfinished Portrait— MT. VERNON,VA.: George Washington—NEWARK, N.J., NEW JERSEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: Captain James Lawrence—NEW HAVEN, CONN., YALE UNIVERSITY [YALE SCHOOL OF THE FINE ARTS] : Captain Charles Knapp; General David Humphreys; [DINING-HALL] Governor Oliver Wolcott,Jr.—NEWP0RT, R. I., REDWOOD LIBRARY: John Banister; Mrs. Christian Banister; Gilbert Stuart; Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse—NEWPORT, R.I., STATE HOUSE: George Washington—NEW YORK, METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: George Washington; John Jay (loaned); David Sears; Captain Henry Rice; Judge Anthony; Mrs. Judge Anthony—NEw YORK, NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY: Thomas Jefferson; George Washington; John Adams; Egbert Benson—New YORK, LENOX LIBRARY: George Washington; Mrs. Robert Morris; Two Portraits of Ladies; John Campbell—PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS: Mrs. Samuel Blodgett (unfinished); Mrs. Blodgett and Daughter (unfinished); Sir Henry Lorraine Baker; Elizabeth Bordley; Samuel Griffin; Samuel Gatliff; Mrs. Samuel Gatliff and Daughter; James Greenleaf (Plate VIII); Mrs. William Jackson (Plate x); Mrs. James Madison; James Monroe; John Nixon; Mrs. Richard Peters, Jr.; George Plumstead; Mrs. George Plumstead; George Reignold; George Washington (full-length); George Washington (replica of the "Athenæum Washington"); Alexander James Dallas; Dr. John Fothergill—PHILADELPHIA, HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA: George Washington—PHILADELPHIA, INDEPENDENCE HALL: Commodore Stephen DeCatur—PROVIDENCE, R. I., STATE HOUSE: George Washington—WASHINGTON, D. C., CORCORAN GALLERY OF ART: George Washington; Chief Justice Shippen; John Randolph of Roanoke (loaned) (Plate IV)—WORCESTER, MASS., WORCESTER ART MUSEUM: Stephen Salisbury, Sr.; Mrs. Stephen Salisbury; Samuel Salisbury; Mrs. Perez Morton (unfinished).

STUART BIBLIOGRAPHY

A LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL BOOKS AND MAGAZINE ARTICLES DEALING WITH STUART

APPLETON'S CYCLOPAEDIA OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. Gilbert Stuart. New York, 1887-1901—AVERY, S. P. Some Account of the "Gibbs-Channing" Portrait of George Washington (privately printed). New York, 1900 —BENJAMIN, S. G. W. Art in America. New York, 1880—BUXTON, H. J. W. English Painters; with a Chap-ter on American Painters by S. R. Koehler. New York, 1883 —CAFFIN, C. H. American Masters of Painting. New York, 1902--CONANT, S. S. Progress of the Fine Arts (in The First Century of the Republic). New York, 1876—COOK, C. Art and Artists of Our Time. New York [1888]—DEXTER, A. The Fine Arts' (in The Memorial History of Boston, edited by Justin Winsor). Boston, 1881 — DUNLAP, W. History of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the United States. New York, 1834—HART, C. H. Gilbert Stuart (in Encyclopædia Britannica). Edinburgh,1883 —HART, C. H. Browere's Life Masks of Great Americans. New York, 1899—ISHAM, S. The History of American Painting. New York, I905—LESTER, C. E. Artists of America. New York, 1846— MASON, G. C. The Life and Works of Gilbert Stuart. New York, 1879 —MONKHOUSE, C. Gilbert Stuart (in Dictionary of National Biography). London, 1885-1901 —SHELDEN, G. W. American Painters. New York, 1879 —TUCKERMAN, H. T. Book of the Artists. New York, 1867.

MAGAZINE ARTICLES

AMERICAN ART REVIEW, 1880: C. H. Hart; Mason's Life of Stuart. 1880: C. H. Hart; The Stuart Exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston —ANGLO-SAXON REVIEW, 1899: L. Cust; Stuart's Portrait of Washington—L'ART, 1876: W. J. Hoppin; Esquisse d'une histoire de la peinture aux Etats-Unis—ATLANTIC MONTHLY, 1868: J. Neal; Our Painters. 1888: W. H. Downes; Boston Painters and Paintings—CATHOLIC. WORLD, 1895: F. W. Sweet; An Artist Philosopher—CENTURY, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1902: C. H. Hart; Gilbert Stuart's Portraits of Women. 1902, 1904: C. H. Hart; Gilbert Stuart's Portraits of Men —THE CURIO, 1887: B. R. Betts; The Washington Portraits by Stuart—HARPER'S MONTHLY, 1896: C. H. Hart; Stuart's Lansdowne Portrait of Washington—MCCLURE's MAGAZINE, 1897: C. H. Hart; Life Portraits of George Washington. 1898: C. H. Hart; Life Portraits of Thomas Jefferson. 1903: W. H. Low; A Century of Painting in America— NARRAGANSETT HISTORICAL REGISTER, 1882-83: The Gilbert Stewart House--NEW ENGLAND MAGAZINE, 1894: W. H. Downes; Stuart's Portraits of Washington. 1895: W. H. Downes; Our American Old Masters. 1905: M. S. Stimpson; Gilbert Stuart—PUTNAM'S MONTHLY, 1855: H. T. Tuckerman; Original Portraits of Washington—SCRIBNER's MONTHLY, 1876: J Stuart; The Stuart Portraits of Washington. 1877: J. Stuart; The Youth of Gilbert Stuart, by His Daughter. 1877: J. Stuart; Anecdotes of Stuart.