FEilDHfllL
or Knave?
and is probably the most widely distributed of the three
distinct poses. Stuart himself, however, disliked it and said
that he had destroyed it.
Most experts dispute this, believing that Stuart merely
used this as a subterfuge to get Washington to pose again.
The original is believed to be in the National Gallery in
Washington, and many variations of the Vaughn type,
painted by Stuart himself, are known to exist. Two should
be familiar to every American. One is reproduced on the
dollar bill and another on the two-cent stamp.
The second pose, or Lansdowne type (also named for the
first owner), involves three originals simply because Stu
art painted all three of them at once. He set up three easels
and alternately worked on each, mass-production style.
The third pose, called the Athenaeum type, is probably
Stuart's best picture of Washington, although it brought
him into direct conflict with his subject. Washington him
self ordered this portrait for his wife Martha. Stuart, how
ever, liked it so well that he kept it. We have several ver
sions of what happened. Stuart's daughter wrote the most
charitable account.
She said that Washington called at the Stuart home to
pick up the picture, but when Stuart explained that it was
invaluable to him in making extra copies which he could sell,
Washington conceded that Stuart could keep it "at your
pleasure, if it be of any consequence to you, sir."
A more salty version was offered by a visitor to Mount
Vernon who heard the picture referred to rather angrily.
It seems that both Washington and Mrs. Washington each
had made several visits to Stuart's home, hoping to have the
picture delivered. Each time Stuart put them off, claiming
that it wasn't ready. On the final visit, the President be
came so ruffled he stormed out, rasping, "Very well, sir,
deliver it when you will, for I will not call again."
Both versions have an element of truth. The fact is that
Stuart was quite right when he said the painting was not
finished it still isn't! But it is unfinished because Stuart
did not wish it to be. The portrait was a good one, so good
that Stuart wanted it handy to make copies. So he left the
foreground and background blank as an excuse, although
Washington's visage was completed admirably. Before he
was through with it, Stuart made more than 70 copies of
this version. The original, which now hangs in the Museum
of Fine Arts in Boston, is still the best of the group.
Despite his mild perhaps excusable deceptions,
Stuart's worth as an artist should not be minimized. As one
observer commented, "Stuart's portraits of Washington are
so implanted in our minds that if Washington were to return
to earth today and stand beside one of1 them and not resem
ble it, he would be declared an impostor."
One of three Lansdowne
portraits Washington ac
tually posed for now
hangs in Pennsylvania
Academy of the Fine
Arts in Philadelphia.
P Q
nm MM
lire o
EE WR
MM A
ll
UVJ
He knows all there is to know about Tours
Fares Reservations Hotels Restaurants
Sightseeing Car Purchase Car Rental
Tax-Free Shopping Money Exchange
Passports, Visas and other documents
everything that has to do with travel! He
will handle all the details-make
your money go further and
hell put the finishing
touches on your trip.
A; A
jt? At i
jtf jo? j '
rzr4 A
y r v i
uu uuvu
ROYAL DUTCH
AIRLINES
a j : y
THE
J WORLD'S
7 f IS t? first
JZx? AIRLINE
Jhj- jSs" &si