Martha Washington (The Athenaeum Portrait)

Although Gilbert Stuart made many copies of the president’s portrait over the years, this is thought to be his only painting of Martha Washington. Commissioned at the same time as the “Athenaeum” portrait of George Washington, Stuart’s portrait of the first lady has a similar history; the artist never finished it, and he kept it until his death. In as early as 1800, when she was grieving the death of her husband, Martha Washington asked her friend Tobias Lear to press Stuart to deliver both portraits. Lear wrote to Stuart, “with all the persuasive language of which I [am] master, [I] prevail upon you to let Mrs. Washington have the Painting of her dear deceased husband, our late illustrious and beloved Chief.”

Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828)

Oil on canvas, 1796

Owned jointly with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

NPG.80.116

Aunque Gilbert Stuart realizó muchas copias del retrato del presidente a lo largo de los años, se piensa que esta es su única pintura de Martha Washington. Creada por encargo al mismo tiempo que el retrato del “Ateneo” de George Washington, la pintura de la primera dama tiene una historia similar: el artista nunca la terminó y la tuvo en su poder hasta su muerte. Ya en 1800, cuando Martha Washington lloraba la muerte reciente de su esposo, le pidió a su amigo Tobias Lear que presionara a Stuart para que entregara los dos retratos. Lear le escribió a Stuart “con todas las palabras de persuasión que tengo a mi alcance, le exhorto a que le permita a la Sra. Washington tener el retrato de su querido esposo, nuestro ilustre y amado comandante fallecido”.

The artist; his daughter Jane Stuart; purchased in May, 1831, by the Trustees of the Boston Athenaeum with funds raised by subscription from the Washington Monument Association and 22 additional subscribers; purchased 1980 jointly by NPG and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts