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George Washington

George Washington
Artist
Valentine Green, 1739 - 1813
Copy after
Charles Willson Peale, 15 Apr 1741 - 22 Feb 1827
Sitter
George Washington, 22 Feb 1732 - 14 Dec 1799
Date
1785
Type
Print
Medium
Mezzotint on paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 51.5 x 36.9 cm (20 1/4 x 14 1/2")
Topic
Weapon\Sword
Nature & Environment\Animal\Horse
Weapon\Cannon
George Washington: Male
George Washington: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\Revolutionary War
George Washington: Politics and Government\Statesman\Colonial statesman
George Washington: Natural Resource Occupations\Agriculturist\Farmer
George Washington: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\General
George Washington: Politics and Government\President of US
George Washington: Science and Technology\Surveyor
George Washington: Congressional Gold Medal
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.67.25
Exhibition Label
Born Westmoreland County, Virginia
In December 1783, Charles Willson Peale wrote to fellow artist Benjamin West in London, asking advice for getting two full-length oil portraits—including one of George Washington—made into prints. Frustrated by the lack of skilled craftsmen and printers in the American colonies as well as proper supplies, he turned to England’s thriving printmaking industry to reproduce his portrait of the first president for wider audiences. A friend transported Peale’s work to London, where publisher John Brown commissioned English painter and illustrator Thomas Stothard to make drawings after the portraits. The prominent engraver Valentine Green then made mezzotints from Stothard’s drawings.
When Peale received Green’s mezzotints of Washington, he discovered that his original composition had been altered and his name misspelled
in the caption. The technical sophistication of the mezzotint, however, far surpassed anything that was being produced in the United States at that time.
Nacido en Westmoreland County, Virginia
En diciembre de 1783, Charles Willson Peale consultó a su colega artista Benjamin West en Londres para ver cómo podía encargar grabados de dos retratos al óleo de cuerpo entero, uno de ellos de George Washington. Frustrado por la falta de artesanos e impresores diestros así como de materiales apropiados en las colonias norteamericanas, Peale recurrió a la floreciente industria gráfica de Inglaterra a fin de reproducir su retrato del primer presidente para un público más amplio. La obra fue llevada por un amigo de Peale a Londres, donde el pintor e ilustrador Thomas Stothard creó los dibujos por encargo del editor John Brown. El prominente grabador Valentine Green hizo las mezzotintas a base de los dibujos.
Cuando Peale recibió los grabados de Washington, descubrió que habían alterado su composición original y su nombre aparecía mal escrito en la leyenda. Sin embargo, la perfección técnica de la mezzotinta superaba por mucho todo lo que se producía en Estados Unidos en aquel momento.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view