George Washington

Gilbert Stuart American

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 723

This depiction of Washington, called the Gibbs-Channing-Avery portrait after its successive owners, is one of eighteen similar works by Stuart categorized as the Vaughan group. The first of its type—presumably painted from life, in Philadelphia, and then replicated—belonged to Samuel Vaughan, a merchant and close friend of Washington. Technical analysis has revealed that Stuart changed the color of the sitter’s coat, painting the American-made brown wool broadcloth to appear more like the formal European black silk velvet suit that Washington wore on official occasions.

George Washington, Gilbert Stuart (American, North Kingston, Rhode Island 1755–1828 Boston, Massachusetts), Oil on canvas, American

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George Washington, Gilbert Stuart (American, North Kingston, Rhode Island 1755–1828 Boston, Massachusetts), Oil on canvas, American
George Washington, Gilbert Stuart (American, North Kingston, Rhode Island 1755–1828 Boston, Massachusetts), Oil on canvas, American
George Washington, Gilbert Stuart (American, North Kingston, Rhode Island 1755–1828 Boston, Massachusetts), Oil on canvas, American

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