Portrait of George Washington

Description In 1793, after working in London and Dublin for 18 years, Stuart returned to America. Two years later, he painted his first portrait of George Washington, showing the right side of the president's face, a format since known as the Vaughan type. In the spring of 1796, Washington again sat for Stuart, and the resulting portrait, which was never finished, was originally acquired by the Boston Athenaeum. Depicting the left side of the face, this second version was replicated many times, becoming an icon of American art. The Baltimore art collector Robert Gilmor, Jr., for a fee of $150, commissioned the artist to paint this example of the Athaeneum format. It was Stuart's last likeness of Washington.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
2/06/1937	Examination	examined for other
5/07/1941	Treatment	repaired; coated
6/23/1966	Treatment	loss compensation, coated
12/31/1969	Treatment	repaired
12/31/1969	Examination	examined for condition
5/02/1988	Examination	examined for condition
9/01/1991	Treatment	loss compensation; other

Exhibitions

• Old and New England. Rhode Island School of Design, Providence. 1945.
• Man and His Years. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. 1954.
• The Taste of Maryland: Art Collecting in Maryland 1800-1934. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1984.
• Gilbert Stuart. National Gallery of Art, Washington; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 2004-2005.
• 19th Century Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara; Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, Austin. 2010-2011.

Provenance Robert Gilmor, Jr., Baltimore, August 12, 1825, by commission; Mr. and Mrs. Charles Gilmor, Baltimore, 1848-1869; Mrs. Madeline Vinton Dahlgren [wife of the Admiral], Washington, D.C., until 1872, by purchase [H. N. Barlow as agent]; Mrs. Sarah Dahlgren, Washington D.C., until 1885 [mode of acquisition unknown]; William T. Walters, Baltimore, 1885, by purchase [S. P. Avery as agent]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Number] On back of canvas: - 202 r7 70

Credit Acquired by William T. Walters, 1885