Beschreibung:

[After Gilbert Stuart ] Portrait of George Washington. [Philadelphia: c. 1795-96]. Oil on canvas, relined and framed in the early 20th century, stretcher with an early 20th century collection label "no 48967 Picture," with some light craquelure, 25 x 20 inches (63.5 x 50.8 cm). Provenance: Messmore Kendall (1872-1959) of Dobbs Ferry, NY; by descent, to his grand-daughter, Sue Kendall Wallingford; Sold to by the present owner in 1970. A well-provenanced "Athenaeum Type" Portrait of George Washington, possibly by John Vanderlyn (1775-1852), after Gilbert Stuart's version, with the bulge of his lips pushed out by his bulky false teeth, suggesting that this portrait was drawn from life, or copied from a life painting. This portrait bears many similarities with the only known "official "copy by John Vanderlyn's of the George Washington "Athenaeum" portrait, now residing at the Senate House Museum, Kingston, a gift from a Kingston resident in 1959, and provenanced back to Vanderlyn's nephew. The Senate picture is slightly larger 28 x 33 inches but has a similar ruff at the back of the neck, and a similar rendering of the face. John Vanderlyn was Stuart's pupil from summer 1795 to Spring 1796, living in his house. As Gosman's unpublished biography of Vanderlyn states "Vanderlyn became a member of Stuart's family [in his house in Philadelphia], early in the summer of 1795. He found the painter overwhelmed with commissions as in addition to the demand for portraits, he had many orders for copies of his Washington, the pencil of the youth was employed in dead coloring several of the portraits " which Stuart sold for 100 dollars each. On April 20 1796 Vanderlyn writes to Peter van Gaasbeck of Kingston saying he hasn't painted a portrait of Washington for himself yet, but will try to paint one in the next 2 weeks before he leaves. In letters to friends during this period , Vanderlyn recalls Washington's visits to Stuart's house for his various sittings, Vanderlyn would open the door to the great man and show him upstairs to the studio. The result of these sittings was the magnificent Lansdowne portrait. Messmore Kendall (1872-1959) was an affluent New York businessman, and through his membership of the "Sons of the American Revolution", (his great-great grandfather was Surgeon General to the Continental Army), he became an avid collector of George Washington artifacts and the Federal Period. In 1916 he purchased a mansion in Dobbs Ferry, which was the supposed HQ of Washington, and began to fill the house with his expanding collection of Washingtoniana, creating one of the finest private collections in the country. There he opened up the house to visitors, eventually loaning his collection to the Federal Hall Museum. Many of the items contained in this collection were believed by Kendall to have been owned by George Washington or have been contemporaneous to him. Many items were acquired from William Lanier Washington, a descendant of George Washington, either directly or at auction. The collection was first exhibited at the Worlds Fair of 1939, and on his death, the collection was given to the Federal Hall Museum Associates, excepting the few pieces that were bequeathed to his heirs.