GEORGE WASHINGTON

An accomplished copy of Gilbert Stuart's famous rendition, this "Athenaeum-type" portrait may have been executed by his daughter, Jane (1812-1888). Her talents were praised by her father during his lifetime and after his death, she helped support her family by painting copies of his works. Here, the delineation of the eye lids with abrupt contrasts of light and dark closely follows the elder Stuart's brushstrokes; furthermore, the curls of hair on either side of the face are exacting replications of Stuart's original Athenaeum-type portrait, now in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the National Gallery of Art. Jane Stuart owned the original for several years after her father's death in 1828, so would have been intimately familiar with its composition. For her copies, she favored the oval format, another factor that points toward her authorship for the work offered here.