Gilbert Stuart is one of the most fascinating artists of all time. Not only is his work highly recognized; his portrait of George Washington appears on the one dollar bill, but to this day this same portrait remains an unsolved and highly questioned mystery. Gilbert Stuart was a highly coveted portraitist of his time, painting over 1,000 portraits, some of the most well recognized being of the first six presidents of the United States. His skills were legendary and precise, and he was hired by many important figures of the time. In his life, Stuart painted various portraits of George Washington, but none as highly recognized and debated as The |
Athenaeum, a half painted portrait portraying George Washington from the shoulders up. Stuart began painting this portrait in 1796, but never finished it, for reasons unknown. However, years later, Stuart retained the picture and used it to make over 130 copies in which he sold for $100 each. These many portraits came in to conflict with Stuart later in his life, when Stuart disowned the portrait. The direct reasons for the disowning of the portrait are unknown, but many believe it could be due to the unfinished state of the portrait, Stuart's embarrassment of the technique in the portrait, or even that it was a ploy to gain more wealth and recognition on Stuart's part. Even though it cannot be 100% confirmed that Stuart is the artist of this portrait, he is now recognized as the artist since he appears to be the most likely suspect.
This issues raises some very controversial questions in the art world. Disowning a work is not a thing of the past, many artists still choose to disown their work today. This topic brings people to question, "if an artist disowns a work, do we have an obligation to honor that disavowal?"
This issues raises some very controversial questions in the art world. Disowning a work is not a thing of the past, many artists still choose to disown their work today. This topic brings people to question, "if an artist disowns a work, do we have an obligation to honor that disavowal?"