John Jay

1794

Gilbert Stuart

Artist, American, 1755 - 1828

Shown from the knees up, a balding, pale-skinned man wearing a voluminous rust-red and black robe sits angled to our right in this vertical portrait painting. The man is clean-shaven, and tufts of ash-brown hair curls around his ears. He looks to our right with gray eyes under slender brows. The tip of his long nose comes to a prominent point, and his wide, thin, pale pink lips are closed. A white, ruffled ascot is tucked into the lapels of a red and black robe edged with silvery white. The fabric has a sheen, suggesting satin or silk. The man’s legs are crossed and covered with inky-black fabric. The man’s right hand, to our left, rests in his lap, and the other rests on the edge of a book propped upright on a table covered in a dusky, dark pink cloth. A muted copper-red curtain hangs to the left, and a column and its base is outlined against the parchment-brown wall behind him. The portrait is loosely painted with some visible strokes, especially in the costume and background.

Media Options

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 62

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Gift of the Jay Family

  • Dimensions

    overall: 131 x 102 cm (51 9/16 x 40 3/16 in.)
    framed: 164.5 x 135.9 x 11.1 cm (64 3/4 x 53 1/2 x 4 3/8 in.)

  • Accession

    2009.132.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Commissioned 1794 by the sitter, John Jay (1745-1829), New York; by descent in his family; gift (partial and promised) 2009 to NGA; gift completed 2019.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1832

  • [exhibition], Boston Athenaeum, 1832.

1889

  • Loan Exhibition of Historical Portraits and Relics (part of the Centennial Celebration of the Inauguration of George Washington as First President of the United States), Metropolitan Opera House, New York, 1889, no. 120.

1895

  • Loan Collection of Paintings by Early American Artists, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1895-1896.

1939

  • Life in America. A Special Loan Exhibition of Paintings held during the period of the New York World's Fair, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1939, no. 49, repro.

1951

  • Loan to display with permanent collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1951-2009.

1957

  • Alexander Hamilton Bicenntenial Exhibition, U.S. Department of Treasury, Washington, D.C., 1957.

1967

  • Gilbert Stuart: Portraitist of the Young Republic, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence; The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1967, no. 25.

2004

  • Gilbert Stuart, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; National Gallery of Art (for the National Portrait Gallery), Washington, D.C., 2004-2005, no. 32, repro.

Bibliography

1867

  • Tuckerman, Henry T. Book of the Artists. New York, 1867: 109.

1879

  • Mason, George C. The Life and Works of Gilbert Stuart. New York, 1879: 205-207, pl. 8.

1880

  • "Portraits painted by Stuart." In Exhibition of Portraits Painted by Stuart. Exh. cat. 2nd ed. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1880: 44, no. 328.

1926

  • Park, Lawrence. Gilbert Stuart. 2 vols. New York, 1926: 1:436, no. 437, repro.

1932

  • Report of United States George Washington Bicentennial Commission. Vol. V (1932): no. 69.

  • Whitley, William T. Gilbert Stuart. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1932: 88, 91-92.

1938

  • Ide, John Jay. The Portraits of John Jay. New York, 1938: 26-27, no. 7, repro.

1943

  • Walker, John, and Macgill James. Great American Paintings from Smibert to Bellows 1729-1924. London and New York, 1943: pl. 19.

1958

  • [Article about the issue of a 15-cent U.S. postage stamp featuring a likeness of John Jay taken from the painting], The Washington Post, 2 November 1958.

1964

  • Mount, Charles Merrill. Gilbert Stuart: A Biography. New York, 1964: 183-185, repro.

1968

  • American Heritage (February 1968): color repro. on cover.

1974

  • Neumeyer, Alfred. Geschichte der Amerikanischen Malerei. Munich, 1974: 119, 165 n. 90.

1976

  • Flexner, Thomas. "The Man Who Painted Washington." American Heritage XXVII, no. 5 (August 1976): 46, repro.

1981

  • American Art through 40 Presidencies. An Inaugural Celebration 1981. Self-guided tour, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1981: Gallery 64, repro.

2010

  • Anderson, Nancy. "Gilbert Stuart, John Jay." Bulletin / National Gallery of Art, no. 42 (Spring 2010): 18-19, repro.

2013

  • Evans, Dorinda. Gilbert Stuart and the Impact of Manic Depression. Burlington, 2013: 18.

Wikidata ID

Q20180085

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