As a boy, Rembrandt Peale watched George Washington sit for a portrait by his father, artist Charles Willson Peale. “My post had been behind my father’s chair when he painted [Washington] in 1787— I was the bearer of every message from my father to him,” he wrote. “It will not be difficult to believe, therefore, that I longed for no greater honor than to paint his portrait.” In 1795, when he was seventeen, he had the opportunity to portray Washington from life himself.
Peale would go on to create numerous portraits of the first U.S. president. From these, he developed an idealized image, which he used in his series of “porthole” portraits. This painting is a typical example, in that Washington appears in a stone oval frame, a style popular in seventeenth-century European art. The classical framing, dignified pose, and perfected features were designed to portray Washington as strong and heroic.
Nacido en Westmoreland County, Virginia
De niño, Rembrandt Peale vio a George Washington posar para su padre, el artista Charles Willson Peale. “Yo estuve detrás de la silla de mi padre mientras pintaba [a Washington] en 1787; tenía la labor de transmitirle a él todos los mensajes de mi padre”, escribió. “Por tanto, no es difícil imaginar yo que ansiara el gran honor de pintar su retrato”. En 1795, a los diecisiete años, tuvo la oportunidad de pintar a Washington del natural.
Peale llegó a crear numerosos retratos del primer presidente de Estados Unidos. A partir de estos desarrolló una imagen idealizada, la cual aplicó a su serie en formato de “ojo de buey”. Esta pintura es un ejemplo típico que presenta a Washington rodeado de un marco de piedra ovalado, estilo po- pular en el arte europeo del siglo XVII. El encuadre clásico, la pose digna y las facciones refinadas aspiran a proyectar la fortaleza y el heroísmo de Washington.
Provenance:
Hanson K. Corning, New York; Ephraim L. Corning, Geneva, Switzerland; Hanson K. Corning; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, subject to life interest in the donor’s niece Marguerite D. Velay [Mrs. Maxime Velay]; The Metropolitan Museum; sold 1975 to NPG
