George Washington
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; transfer from the National Gallery of Art; gift of the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, 1942
Accession Number
NPG.65.59
Tags
About this artwork
In 1795, the Philadelphia artist Charles Willson Peale persuaded President George Washington to pose for his seventeen-year-old son Rembrandt, who wanted to paint the presidentâs portrait. Upon learning that Rembrandt was joined in the painting room by his father, his brother Raphaelle, and his Uncle James (all artists), Gilbert Stuart quipped that the president was in danger of being âPealed all around.â Rembrandt Pealeâs original life portrait is now in the collection of the Historical...