Gilbert Stuart (Metropolitan Museum of Art Series) - Hardcover

Barratt, Carrie Rebora; Miles, Ellen G.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300104952 ISBN 13: 9780300104950

Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004

Synopsis

The most successful and resourceful portraitist of America’s early national period, Gilbert Stuart (1755 1828) possessed enormous natural talent, bringing his witty and irascible manner to bear on each of his works. This handsome book highlights Stuart’s achievements by presenting more than ninety portraits of exceptional quality, ranging from the early works he produced in Newport, Rhode Island, to those he executed just before his death in Boston.

Carrie Rebora Barratt and Ellen G. Miles show how Stuart developed and maintained a distinctive portrait style, tailoring his portrayals to fit his subjects. They trace the development of his art from his hometown of Newport, where he proved his talent, to his years in London and Dublin, where he mastered the techniques of the English late-eighteenth-century Grand Manner, to his return to America (no longer the Colonies but now the United States), where he dealt with clients in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Boston. The authors provide a short essay about Stuart in each of the sites of his production, which introduces the works painted there. There is also a special section devoted to Stuart’s famous and popular portraits of Washington, the so-called Vaughan, Athenaeum, and Lansdowne portraits. These works are discussed in terms of patronage, technique, chronology, and interpretation.

The most comprehensive book on the artist’s work to date, Gilbert Stuart is essential for anyone who admires American art and history.

About this title

About the Author:

Carrie Rebora Barratt is Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture and Manager of the Henry R. Luce Center for the Study of American Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Ellen G. Miles is Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Review:

The most comprehensive book on Gilbert Stuart to date, this handsome volume focuses on the paintings and career of the most successful portraitist of America’s early national period, including Stuart’s famous images of George Washington.

About this edition

• Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0300104952
• ISBN 13: 9780300104950
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352