Captain Skeffington Lutwidge

At the time Gilbert Sturat painted him, Captain Skeffington Lutwidge (1736-1814) had only recently returned to England from service in the Revolutionary War. In 1781, as Captain of HMS Perseverance, he had captured two French ships that had been sent to the Americans' aid. He was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1794 and became a full Admiral in 1810. Stuart depicted the captain as a calm, ruddy-cheeked gentleman in early middle age. The careful realism of facial features and coloring did not extend to lesser details. The brilliance of gold braid, for example, was captured in quick, fluid brushstrokes, another Stuart trademark. Like several other Revolutionary-era American artists, Stuart went to London to study. He worked for a time in the studio of another American expatriate, Benjamin West, and then in 1782 opened his own portrait practice on New Burlington Street. His likeness of Captain Lutwidge was painted in Stuart's London studio during the young artist's first flush of critical and financial success. Working later in the United States, Stuart painted George Washington and many wealthy and influential Americans, including Norfolk merchant Moses Myers (1753–1835). Visit the Moses Myers House in downtown Norfolk to see Gilbert Stuart’s portraits of a prosperous and stylish local merchant couple, hung in their original setting and surrounded by fine period furnishings from the Myers Family collection.

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