Gilbert Stuart

Gilbert Charles Stuart ( born December 3, 1755 in North Kingstown, Rhode Iceland, † July 9, 1828 in Boston, Massachusetts; born Stewart) was an American painter.

Life

Growing up in Newport, Rhode Iceland, Stuart initially took lessons from the Scottish painter Cosmo Alexander. Together with him, he went in 1771 to Scotland to finish his education. His teacher died the following year in Edinburgh. After Stuart had tried unsuccessfully to live from painting, he went back to Newport in 1773.

However, due to the American Revolutionary War and the associated social changes disappeared soon Stuarts opportunities to work as a portrait painter, and he followed the example of John Singleton Copley and went in 1775 to England.

In London he became the next six years pupil of the painter and former director of the Royal Academy of Arts, Benjamin West. Already in 1777 Stuart has exhibited his paintings at the Royal Academy for the first time. Success came in 1782 with a portrait of the William Grant The skater. Stuart scored henceforth prices for his pictures, which were surpassed only by such painters as Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough. However, despite many requests Stuart had constant money problems and had to flee in 1787 before his debtors to Ireland. In Dublin he continued his painting activity, but accumulated with time debts, after which he went back to America in 1793.

When he first settled in New York, founded in 1795 Stuart a studio in Philadelphia. Here his fame established as a portraitist important Americans of his time. He painted a series of pictures of George Washington, which he then copied in series to meet the increasing demand. This secured him for years his financial livelihood. The most famous image of this series is called the Athenaeum Head, which can be seen today on the one -dollar bill; also known is the so-called Lansdowne portrait. A life-size portrait of Washington hangs today in the East Office of the White House. When the British troops in 1812 Washington, D.C. burned down, it was the First Lady Dolley Madison, who saved the picture.

1803 Gilbert Stuart opened a studio in Washington DC 1805 and went to Boston. By the end of his career Stuart painted over a thousand personalities of the fledgling American history, such as Thomas Jefferson. He was famous for his lifelike and natural portraits and appreciated for its sociability. U.S. President John Adams noticed this on: " Usually it's a pain to have his portrait done. One must remain in an obsessive and unnatural position and patience is put to the test. For Stuart but I could sit model from January 1 until December: I can do whatever I want and have a good conversation " Stuart worked without sketches and painted directly onto the canvas. .

1824 Stuart had a stroke. Although he was partially paralyzed and also suffered from gout, he continued working as a painter. At the age of 72 years he died in Boston and was buried in the Old South Burial Ground.

John Adams

Thomas Jefferson

Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis

Sir Joshua Reynolds

George Washington - Lansdowne Portrait

Mrs. Richard Yates