The Painter and the President

George Washington hates sitting for portraits, but it’s the late eighteenth century and cameras have yet to be invented. The president understands that a great portrait is the best way to be remembered by future generations. And who better to help secure Washington’s place in history than Gilbert Stuart, the most talented portrait painter of his day? For his part, Stuart knows that his own name will go down in history if he can paint an exceptional portrait of Washington.

Sarah Albee tells the story of how Gilbert Stuart’s most famous portrait—the image that appears on the one-dollar bill—came to be. Despite clashing personalities and several setbacks—including Washington’s swollen, aching mouth caused by ill-fitting false teeth—the painter managed to create a portrait of the president that endures to this day.

“The Painter and the President spotlights the relationship between America’s first president and Gilbert Stuart, one of the many artists who tried to capture his image on canvas. By the time of Washington’s presidency, Stuart had made a fine reputation as a portraitist. Although many of his subjects loved sitting for him, the laconic George Washington was not one of them. Sarah Albee and Stacy Innerst cleverly celebrate this relationship by looking at the many ways the painter tried in order to get a true portrait of America’s first president.”—Mary V. Thompson, research historian emerita, George Washington’s Mount Vernon