Gilbert Stuart, by Carrie Rebora Barratt

If you like art books that feature great painters you cannot go wrong with books in this series, put out by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Gilbert Stuart was the most famous portraitist of the early period of American history. He is probably best known today for the George Washington portrait that appears on the United States one dollar bill, but when he was painting everybody who was anybody was on his list of clients. Stuart actually painted several views of Washington, including the Athenaeum, Vaughn, and Lansdowne portraits. But the Athenaeum head - the one on the dollar bill - is the most popular.

Stuart painted the first several Presidents of the United States, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay, and prominent individuals on both sides of the Atlantic. By the end of his career, he had painted over 1,000 American politicians. Today, these paintings are a priceless part of the national heritage and are found in museums across the country.

The book is chock full of interesting tales of Stuart and his seemingly vain quest to earn enough money to keep up with his spending.

Unlike many painters, who work with sketches on canvas first, Stuart began working with colors immediately when he started a portrait - and right in the center of the canvas.

John Adams, the second President, sat for Stuart several times and commented that Stuart did not make him assume a particular pose but allowed him to do what he wanted, which was highly unusual according to the oft painted Adams.

"Stuart nailed the face to the canvas," is another comment I remember from reading the text. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Stuart captured a good likeness. He became the most sought after portraitist of his day.

The book covers Stuart’s early years in Newport, Rhode Island and his London and Dublin periods - where he weathered out the Revolution - as well as his return to the USA. While in London, Stuart was tutored for six years by prominent British painter Benjamin West, also.

Stuart's work is compared to British painters Sir Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough, as well as contemporary Americans John Singleton Copley and the Peales. In my opinion, Stuart far surpassed them all in the rendition of character in his subjects.

The hardcover book has 338 pages and presents over 90 portraits of Stuart's inimitable quality. The George Washington portraits are each discussed separately in their own sections. The Lansdowne portrait, painted in the tradition of European state portraits with the trappings of power, adorns the slip cover.



Recommended: Yes