Gilbert Charles Stuart (born Stewart) (December 3, 1755 - July 9, 1828) was an American painter.

Gilbert Stuart is widely considered to be one of America`s foremost portraitists.[1] His best known work, George Washington (also known as The Athenaeum and the Unfinished Portrait) was completed the 1796. The image of George Washington featured in the painting has appeared on the United States One-Dollar Bill for over a century.[1]

Throughout his career, Gilbert Stuart produced portraits of over 1,000 people, including the first six Presidents of the United States.[2] His work can be found today at art museums across the United States and the United Kingdom, most notably the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the National Portrait Gallery in London, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston

Saunderstown, Rhode Island in 1755.[4] He was the third son of Gilbert Stewart,[5] a Scottish immigrant employed in the snuff-making industry, and Elizabeth Anthony Stewart, a member of a prominent land-owning family from Middletown, Rhode Island.[2] Stuart`s father worked in the first colonial Snuff Mill in America, which was located in the basement of the family homestead.[6]

Gilbert Stuart moved to Newport, Rhode Island at the age of seven, where his father pursued work in the merchant field. In Newport, Stuart first began to show great promise as a painter.[7] He was tutored by Cosmo Alexander, a Scottish painter.[8] Under the guidance of Alexander, Stuart painted the famous portrait Dr. Hunter`s Spaniels, which hangs today in the Hunter House Manison in Newport, when he was 12-years-old.

Stuart moved to Scotland with Alexander in 1771 to finish his studies. His mentor died in Edinburgh the following year. Attempting briefly and without success to earn a living as a painter, he returned to Newport in 1773.
Stuart`s prospects as a portraitist were jeopardized by the onset of the American Revolution and its social disruptions. Following the example set by John Singleton Copley, Stuart departed for England in 1775.[10] Unsuccessful at first in pursuit of his vocation, he then became a protegé of Benjamin West, with whom he studied for the next six years. The relationship was a beneficial one, with Stuart exhibiting at the Royal Academy as early as 1777.[10]

By 1782 Stuart had met with success, largely due to acclaim for The Skater, a portrait of William Grant. At one point, the prices for his pictures were exceeded only by those of renowned English artists Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough. Despite his many commissions, however, Stuart was habitually neglectful of finances and was in danger of being sent to debtors` prison. In 1787 he fled to Dublin,Ireland, where he painted and accumulated debt with equal vigor

Stuart moved to Boston in 1805, continuing in critical acclaim and financial troubles. In 1824 he suffered a stroke, which left him partially paralyzed. Nevertheless, Stuart continued to paint for two years until his death in Boston at the age of 72.[14] He was buried in the Old South Burial Ground of the Boston Common. As Stuart left his family deeply in debt, his wife and daughters were unable to purchase a grave site. Stuart is therefore buried in an unmarked grave which was purchased cheaply from Benjamin Howland, a local carpenter.[15] When Stuart`s family recovered from their financial troubles roughly ten years later, they planned to move his body to a family cemetery in Newport, Rhode Island However, since his family could not remember the exact location of Stuart`s body, it was never moved.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Charles_Stuart