Portrait of a Young Woman

Curatorial Summary

Born in North Kingston, Rhode Island, and raised in Newport, Stuart was taught by a local Scottish painter, Cosmo Alexander, who took him to Scotland. His mentor’s death forced Stuart to return to America. During the Revolutionary War, Stuart traveled to England to study with the American expatriate Benjamin West. As success came, so did debt, which forced Stuart to Dublin, Ireland, and then to America, where he eventually became the most highly regarded portraitist of his day. Stuart was prolific – he may have painted over one thousand portraits of important political figures. One of his most famous portraits of George Washington was the “Athenaeum Head,” which is currently on the dollar bill.

The conventional pose and accessories in Portrait of a Young Woman are characteristic of Stuart’s work; however, the sitter’s rare loveliness and the influence of French Neoclassicism are exceptional. The Empire style of the girl’s dress and coiffure reflect the taste of the American aristocracy, a class eager to legitimize itself through association with the historical past, specifically ancient Rome.

References

Barratt, Carrie Rebora, and Ellen G. Miles. Gilbert Stuart. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004.

Smithsonian. “The Portraits: George Washington (The Athenaeum Portrait).” National Portrait Gallery. Accessed August 2, 2018. http://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.80.115.

Max Safron of New York;
purchased by William H. Ball [1893-1980], Muncie, Indiana;
given to the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 1977 (77.426).