Portrait of George Washington

In 1793, after working in London and Dublin for 18 years, Stuart returned to America. Two years later, he painted his first portrait of George Washington, showing the right side of the president's face, a format since known as the Vaughan type. In the spring of 1796, Washington again sat for Stuart, and the resulting portrait, which was never finished, was originally acquired by the Boston Athenaeum. Depicting the left side of the face, this second version was replicated many times, becoming an icon of American art.

The Baltimore art collector Robert Gilmor, Jr., for a fee of $150, commissioned the artist to paint this example of the Athenaeum format. It was Stuart's last likeness of Washington.