Lansdowne portrait

Lansdowne portrait
Lansdowne portrait
Artist	Gilbert Stuart
Year	1796
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	247.6 cm × 158.7 cm (97.5 in × 62.5 in)
Location	National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.

The Lansdowne portrait is an iconic life-size portrait of George Washington painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1796. It depicts the 64-year-old president of the United States during his final year in office. The portrait was a gift to former British Prime Minister William Petty, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, and spent more than 170 years in England.

Stuart painted three copies of the Lansdowne, and five portraits that were closely related to it.^[1]^: 175 His most famous copy has hung in the East Room of the White House since 1800. Numerous other artists also painted copies. George Washington Parke Custis, Mrs. James (Dolley) Madison and others saved the White House copy from burning in the War of 1812.^[2]

In 2001, to preclude the original portrait's imminent sale by Lord Harry Delancy at his auction at Sotheby's, the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. purchased it for $20 million with donations from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.^[3] The painting has been owned by Americans and Englishmen since 1796.

^ Cite error: The named reference Lansdowne was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Bearss, Sara B. "George Washington Parke Custis (1781–1857)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
^ Kilian, Michael (March 14, 2001). "Timely Donation Saves Portrait of Washington from the Auction Block". The Chicago Tribune.

[Lansdowne-1] Cite error: The named reference Lansdowne was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[2] Bearss, Sara B. "George Washington Parke Custis (1781–1857)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved 2024-06-30.

[Kilian-3] Kilian, Michael (March 14, 2001). "Timely Donation Saves Portrait of Washington from the Auction Block". The Chicago Tribune.

[1]

[2]

[3]