biography
| name: |
Stuart, Gilbert (Charles)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1755–1828)
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| biography:
| Painter, born in North Kingston, Rhode Island, USA. Showing an early talent for drawing, he followed the Scottish painter Cosmos Alexander to Edinburgh (1772). Returning to Rhode Island (1773), he was unable to advance with his painting, so he went to London (1775), where he studied (1775–82) with Benjamin West. His ‘Portrait of a Gentleman Skating’ (1782) gained such praise that he was soon busy painting portraits of wealthy British. Extravagant and careless in his spending habits, he fled London (1787) to avoid debtors' prison. In Dublin, Ireland, he repeated the pattern of successful portraitist, but also a debtor. He returned to America (1793), settling in Philadelphia, where he painted two life portraits of George Washington, the third of which, the famous unfinished ‘Athanaeum Head’, was painted in nearby Germantown, PA (1796). He moved his studio to Washington, DC (1803–5), then settled permanently in Boston. Known for his wit and knowledgeable talk, but also for his touchiness and taking snuff, his reputation as a portraitist remains as high as ever, especially for his luminous colouring effects. |
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