Past Exhibition

The Declaration of Independence: The Stone Copy

Shown from the waist up, a pale-skinned, clean-shaven man sits looking at us in front of a peanut-brown background in this vertical portrait painting. His shoulders are angled to our left, but he turns his head to look at us with blue eyes under dark, arched brows. He has a bumped nose, fleshy, flushed cheeks, loose jowls, and a round chin. He has bags under his eyes, crow’s feet, and his thin pink lips are parted. Gray hair curls like bushes to each side of his balding head, which is white across the top of his pate and down the long, bushy sideburns. He wears a high-collared white shirt with a ruffle at the throat under a similarly high-collared black coat. His left elbow, to our right and closer to us, rests on the arm of a wooden armchair. That hand rests in a loose fist in front of the man’s waist, and the cuff is lined with white lace.
Gilbert Stuart, John Adams, c. 1800/1815, oil on canvas, Gift of Mrs. Robert Homans, 1954.7.1

Details

  • Dates

    -

  • Locations

    West Building, Main Floor, Gallery 60A
Shown from the waist up, a pale-skinned, clean-shaven man sits looking at us in front of a peanut-brown background in this vertical portrait painting. His shoulders are angled to our left, but he turns his head to look at us with blue eyes under dark, arched brows. He has a bumped nose, fleshy, flushed cheeks, loose jowls, and a round chin. He has bags under his eyes, crow’s feet, and his thin pink lips are parted. Gray hair curls like bushes to each side of his balding head, which is white across the top of his pate and down the long, bushy sideburns. He wears a high-collared white shirt with a ruffle at the throat under a similarly high-collared black coat. His left elbow, to our right and closer to us, rests on the arm of a wooden armchair. That hand rests in a loose fist in front of the man’s waist, and the cuff is lined with white lace.
Gilbert Stuart, John Adams, c. 1800/1815, oil on canvas, Gift of Mrs. Robert Homans, 1954.7.1

Overview: One of the 31 remaining copies of William J. Stone's 1820 engraving of the Declaration of Independence was on view in this focus exhibition. The document, on loan from David M. Rubenstein, was hung with 11 early American portraits by Gilbert Stuart, who was active during the period in which the Stone engraving was created.

Organization: The installation was organized by the National Gallery of Art.

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