George Washington portrait that helped inspire $1 bill will go to highest bidder

"Stuart, a Rhode Island native, hatched a plan to paint Washington for a simple reason: He needed to pay off debts incurred during a decade in Europe. His profligacy had even briefly landed him in a Dublin debtors prison. "I expect to make a fortune by Washington alone," Stuart wrote to a friend, J.D. Herbert, whose writings memorialize the extravagant dinners Stuart threw in Dublin, featuring a French cook."

"After his release from an Irish debtors prison, Stuart sailed from Ireland to New York, where he painted John Jay, the first chief justice of the United States. Jay - who had served as president of the Continental Congress and would later be elected New York's second governor - gave the painter a letter of introduction addressed to Washington in Philadelphia. Stuart secured commissions for 39Washington portraits before he left New York, Barratt said."

"Stuart was unhappy with his first portrait of Washington, but he got another chance through a commission from then-first lady Martha Washington. Experts say this is when Stuart captured George Washington perfectly: a distinguished farmer who had reluctantly stepped in to lead the nation, reckoning with his role at 64, just a few years before his death. Stuart never gave Martha Washington the painting now known as the Athenaeum Portrait, instead keeping it to make tens of copies."

Gilbert Stuart painted a portrait of George Washington after his release from a Dublin debtors prison to pay off debts accrued in Europe. He expected financial success from painting Washington and secured commissions after a John Jay introduction in New York. Martha Washington commissioned another portrait that became the basis for the Athenaeum Portrait, which Stuart retained to reproduce many copies. Washington's death increased demand for Stuart's work. The painting later passed through owners including a Founding Father, a gold rush tycoon and fraternity members. Christie’s will auction the portrait in January.

Read at The Washington Post