Washington: Portrait of a City

Organized by the museum's chief curator, Hardy George, the companion exhibit includes portraits of Washington at various stages of his life and of some of his contemporaries. George said one of the paintings he was most eager to get for the exhibit was Charles Willson Peale's pre-Revolutionary portrait of Washington at age During a visit to Oklahoma City for the Stuart portrait's opening on Dec. Pachter said the Reynolds grant specified that the tour include stops in Nevada, Arkansas and Oklahoma three states that played a role in Don W.

Pachter said the Washington portrait is a "summary" of what the American presidency was meant to be. For more than years, the portrait remained in private hands. In the s, it was incorporated into the collection of the Fifth Earl of Rosebery. Good news from more distant fronts also soon reached Washington. An American fleet on Lake Champlain won a surprise victory over a British armada on September 11, The discouraged British had fought a halfhearted battle there and retreated to Canada.

Andrew Jackson seized Pensacola under Spanish control since the late s in November Thus, the British were deprived of a place to disembark. President Madison cited these victories in a message to Congress. But the House of Representatives remained unmoved; it voted to consider abandoning Washington.

Dolley summoned all her social resources to persuade the congressmen to change their minds. At Octagon House, she presided over several scaled-down versions of her White House galas. For the next four months, Dolley and her allies lobbied the legislators as they continued to debate the proposal. Finally, both houses of Congress voted not only to stay in Washington but also to rebuild the Capitol and White House.

After the Massachusetts legislature called for a conference of the five New England states to meet in Hartford, Connecticut, in December , rumors swept the nation that the Yankees were going to secede or, at the very least, demand a semi-independence that could spell the end of the Union. President Madison would resign. If they captured the city, they would control the Mississippi River Valley.

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In Hartford, the disunion convention dispatched delegates to Washington to confront the president. On the other side of the Atlantic, the British were making outrageous demands of American envoys, headed by Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin, aimed at reducing the United States to subservience. On January 14, , a profoundly worried Dolley wrote again to Hannah: The rest of January trickled away with no news from New Orleans. Meanwhile, the delegates from the Hartford Convention reached Washington. There was little doubt that this second session would recommend secession.

On Saturday, February 4, a messenger reached Washington with a letter from General Jackson reporting that he and his men had routed the British veterans, killing and wounding about 2, of them with a loss of only 7. New Orleans—and the Mississippi River—would remain in American hands! Dolley placed candles in every window of Octagon House. In the tumult, the Hartford Convention delegates stole out of town, never to be heard from again. Ten days later, on February 14, came even more astonishing news: Henry Carroll, secretary to the American peace delegation, had returned from Ghent, Belgium.

A buoyant Dolley urged her friends to attend a reception that evening. When they arrived, they were told that Carroll had brought a draft of a peace treaty; the president was upstairs in his study, discussing it with his cabinet. The house was jammed with representatives and senators from both parties. But he decided that accepting it on the heels of the news from New Orleans would make Americans feel they had won a second war of independence.

Dolley had shrewdly stationed her cousin, Sally Coles, outside the room where the president was making up his mind.

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When the door opened and Sally saw smiles on every face, she rushed to the head of the stairs and cried: People rushed to embrace and congratulate Dolley. The butler began filling every wineglass in sight. Even the servants were invited to drink, and according to one account, would take two days to recover from the celebration. Overnight, James Madison had gone from being a potentially impeachable president to a national hero, thanks to Gen.

Demobilized soldiers were soon marching past Octagon House. Dolley stood on the steps beside her husband, accepting their salutes. Subscribe or Give a Gift. Humans Reached the Roof of the World 40, Years. Learning to Speak Latino. Science Age of Humans. A New Treatment for Blindness. America's Most Revolutionary Artist.

At the Smithsonian Visit. Looking at Artists Looking at Themselves. Photos Submit to Our Contest. Photo of the Day. Subscribe Top Menu Current Issue. History World History Video Newsletter. The White House in before its torching at the hands of the British. James Madison valued his wife's political acumen.

As the British advanced, the first lady perceived the George Washington portrait's symbolic importance to the nation. He was, therefore, buried in an unmarked grave which was purchased cheaply from Benjamin Howland, a local carpenter.

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However, they could not remember the exact location of his body, and it was never moved. More than portraits were lent for this critically acclaimed and well-subscribed exhibition. By the end of his career, Gilbert Stuart had painted the likenesses of more than 1, American political and social figures. Speaking generally, no penance is like having one's picture done. You must sit in a constrained and unnatural position, which is a trial to the temper. But I should like to sit to Stuart from the first of January to the last of December, for he lets me do just what I please, and keeps me constantly amused by his conversation.

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Stuart was known for working without the aid of sketches, beginning directly upon the canvas, which was very unusual for the time period. His approach is suggested by the advice which he gave to his pupil Matthew Harris Jouett: John Henri Isaac Browere created a life mask of Stuart around Post Office issued a series of postage stamps called the " Famous Americans Series " commemorating famous artists, authors, inventors, scientists, poets, educators, and musicians.

The museum consists of the original house where he was born, with copies of his paintings hanging throughout the house. The museum opened in Gilbert Stuart's paintings of Washington, Jefferson, and others have served as models for dozens of U. Washington's image from the famous portrait The Athenaeum is probably the most noted example of Stuart's work on postage.

This is a partial list of portraits painted by Stuart. American artist John Singleton Copley , c. Horatio Gates , , Metropolitan Museum of Art. Lansdowne portrait of George Washington , George Washington , c. George Washington , , Walters Art Museum. Livingston , diplomat and Founding Father , — George Calvert , politician and planter, Henry Rice , Boston merchant and Massachusetts state legislator, c.

John Carroll , first Catholic bishop of the United States, c. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For other uses, see Gilbert Stuart disambiguation. Portrait of Gilbert Stuart by Sarah Goodridge , Gilbert Charles Stewart [1]. Boston , Massachusetts , U. American artist Benjamin West , — English artist Joshua Reynolds , American artist John Trumbull , c. Peter Gansevoort , Retrieved February 4,