Eastern here on cspan 3. ÷ucc why up close view Princeton University professor officer of democracy and black÷u arthur of barack obama the story watch in depth live on sunday on book tv. Zv talks about how artist depicted George Washington. His presentation includes famous portraits by John Trumbull, gilbert÷u stewart and this is jt over an ymzvchour. Something constructive, of course, but also notc lightn by any means, but something a little less serious. By that, i mean, theres going to be a lot of visuals in this and ic figure a visual intelligence of something we can a little bit acclaim to, for those of you who need the moreu traditional sort of scaffolding like an outline. We can start off with two pages of that and thats also what thats all zvabout. For those of you who respond to competitiveness competitiveness. c were just going to weigh through two centuries of works of art x mostlyu painting. I should say a little bitzv about myself first. I said im chief historian. Anyone who appreciates the÷u multiplexty of doing history understand you have to work with art, thats how people express themselves when theyre at their best. Sometimes at theirc worst, as well see. At the university on George Washington. I madec sure that there was on lecture on George Washington and the arts and ive refined it a little bit for todays purpose. But instheir mind it was intended for college zvgrad. And well get p it. And cross times, things to look for as we go through the talk. Well look at the contemporary print. These are basically ways thatc washington was portrayed to its contemporary ris while it was alive and then moving on, history painting and genre art, basically washington images of historic seems that actually scenes that actually took place so that artist want it to÷u tak place. The entire time sincec washingn was alive. Attitudes across times, in history we find factualism v⌝m realism. Realism, the romae develops from that where stories are tapped primarily for the emotions they evoke. Then again, the genre style, iconography, dealing with issues of ancestry worship versus characters and parities towards those attitudes in history. We start out with the very first portrayed of George Washington. This is the one that he enters the stage of history on, literally. Hes wearing this uniform, they believe, we know he was wearing a uniform, it was most likely this uniform where he appeared at the Second Continental Congress in 1775 to show that things had gotten to the point where militarism might be an option. At this point in time its only 1772. 1772 marks a very quiet period during the imperial crisis between Great Britain and some of, not all of its colonies in north america, only 13 of its colonies in north america. Youre wrong to say this is a picture of George Washington militant. This is a picture of George Washington, virginia gentry, who is very proud to be a member of the british empire. Its a portrait he had to do begrudgingly. Martha made him do it when an itinerant painter showed up on the doorstep in 1772. We know its 1772 from the members. We know washington is proud to be a member of the british empire. Hes showing off what that empire is, unsurveyed wilderness. In his pocket is his marching orders in the french and indian war, again, very proud to have served with the british army in fighting off the french. Thats what this represents. The revolutionary war started. Charles wilson peal is still the guy we rely on for knowing what he looks like for this period. Charles wilson peal had several children. He named each of them after a famous artist. You probably have heard of rembrandt peal, there is a titian peal. And they all wanted to paint washington. One day after sitting for various peals, he said, ive been wellpealed. This one is still very early in washingtons military career. Its dated 1779. Its based on a prototype that Charles Wilson peal did in 1776. This particular painting shows in the left, you might recognize nassau hall, this is supposed to symbolize his victory at the battle of trenton and princeton in 1976, 1777. Peal was very smart, and well see this with the other artists well talk about today. He knew when he had a good thing. He had this prototype and decided he would keep producing it to people who commissioned him. This one was commissioned for the spanish delegation in congress. So he made about 17 of these overall. Peal also painted George Washington at the federal convention in the summer of 1787. I thought this was interesting because hes still wearing his generals uniform. He hasnt quite relinquished his claim to fame as a general yet, even while hes sitting as the president of a civilian organization like the federal convention. John trumbull painted this painting of George Washington in 1790 for martha. Its a very small painting. Its called washington at verplanks point, outside of new york city. Trumbull had just come back from england at the time. I think he wanted to make a mark for himself in the seat of government which was then new york city. Everyone thought this painting was absolutely one of the best certain people in washingtons family, his adopted stepgrandson thought this was the best portrait that had been done of washington. He did a version of it for the corporation of the city of new york. Its the first work of art, i wish Michelle Cohen was here because she knows about that, the first work of art that was bought by the city of new york. He painted another version of it for the city of charleston, not to be outdone by new york city, charleston wanted their own version. Trumbull is not as savvy a businessperson. In the background he could have painted anything he wanted. And he painted the battle of trenton. When youre from charleston, this isnt going to work. Charleston said, we dont want it, thank you very much. Trumbull kept it. And well see what he did with it later on. The third of the trifecta of early portraits of George Washington during his lifetime is Gilbert Stuart. I note National Gallery had a great exhibit on Gilbert Stuart a few years trumbull, actually like three of the four early portraitists in the early republic, were from new england. Flowers in the wilderness, as Thomas Flexner liked to call the early painters in the colonies in the early republic. Trumbull had a hard time selling the career of a parent to his family. His father, the governor of colonial connecticut, reminded him that new haven is no athens. It might be nowadays, but then he thought it would be a hard sell for his son. But Gilbert Stuart had a little more to go on. He also was from rhode island, a new englander, he studied under Benjamin West as well. He has success in the british isles, particularly in ireland. He paints this one of George Washington, primarily of bond. Most of the portraits Gilbert Stuart paints, the prototypes, and their copied versions, are named for the owners. So this is the bond portrait. The next one in time is of course the famous athenaeum portrait. 75 replicas of this were made during stuarts own lifetime. Maybe some of you know the story. Ive done some research on it. I still cant decide if its apocryphal or not. He is commissioned to do this by the family, there is a pendant by Martha Washington. Theyre both at the National Portrait gallery. Gilbert stuart realized, again, he had a good thing. He didnt want to give it up. Technically he only had to deliver it once it was done. He made sure it was never done. He continued to use it as the prototype. The third is also here in washington, called the landsdown portrait. It was painted in 1796. You might recognize it. Its basically just the athenaeum head plopped on a body. This enabled him to do any number of copies, depending on what the commissioning patron wanted. If he wanted a certain book on the table, if he wanted a certain background between the drapes and so on. It was a very lucrative deal for Gilbert Stuart. It was painted for the bing hams, a fabulously wealthy family, for landsdown, who was very amenable to the american cause during the revolutionary war. I wont tell you where there is another one of these in washington, dc, i wont tell you where it is, we can talk about that later if you want. These are all private portraits that are done by very wellpaying patrons. Because it costs a lot of money to do a portrait. But regular people wanted to see what George Washington looked like as well. So you found images of George Washington on all kinds of articles for public consumption. This is a scarf that shows purportedly George Washington, but you can tell as well as i can, this is just a guy on a horse in a tricorn hat. Whats interesting is the saying around it. It does identify him as George Washington. The founder and protector of american liberty and independence. If you were here for the talk a couple of weeks ago, that might resonate with you, that was something very close to the title that the senate actually ended up doing for George Washington, the house rejected it. But in the popular mind at least, that was not such an outlandish title for the commander in chief. This is the cover of an almanac in boston in 1778. This is a chance for you guys to show off. What just happened in 1778, the year before 1778 . A major event in American History. The battle of saratoga, okay . If youre making an almanac in 1778, you want to honor the victor of saratoga, which was not George Washington. It was horatio gates. There are washington and gates identified here. I dont know which one is which, because neither of them look like either of the people theyre purported to be. Thats precisely the point. You just threw up a cheap wood cut and see what happens. As a matter of fact, these images were interchangeable with almost any other person in colonial america. That was the point. So people who wanted to consume images of washington in the public sphere still had to wait for something more accurate. They had to wait even longer than 1796, which is which this page from a textbook for Young Americans comes out. Again, it identifies it as George Washington. To me its ben franklin. I dont know. There were 11 woodblocks cut for this textbook to represent 22 people. So you can tell i mean, the only thing that would separate them is the addition of a tricorn hat, sometimes. So this is what people had to work with. Eventually, the portraitists we discussed, trumbull, gilbert, peal, they realized they had a good thing going with engravings. They could take trumbulls rejected charleston portrait of washington in 1792 and turn it into an engraving. America didnt have the capability to do an engraving of this quality i want tat this po. Trumbull had to send it off to england. This probably became the most popular image of washington. Edward savage started painting washington for harvard in 1789. Again, he realized, why should i do one when i can do a print and sell many . He does this stipple print of George Washington in 1792. What i found really interesting about this, its one of very few that show washington wearing the badge of the society of the cincinnati. Ive only seen one other. Theyre only in prints, not in portraits. Those who know the history, know washington had a very ambivalent with the society of cincinnati, notwithstanding or precisely because he was the president pretty much for life until he died. Savage, by the way, was another new englander. You can see, new englanders, they might have a reputation as part of their puritan legacy for not appreciating art but we all know, of course, new englanders were in the forefront of art, at least in colonial and early america. This was a version he did of his own print before. This is an mezzotint done a little later. It shows threequarters washington and it shows him now holding a map. I wish you could see it all. Its a map of washington, dc, which holds center stage in the most famous Edward Savage we have, the portrait he did of the washington family in 1796 it was finished. He started in 1789 when he did just the washington head. He realized he wants to get the whole family. This is the first and only one of the washington family that was ever done. Ken showed us this during his talk several weeks ago on washington, not washington and the west but just west in general. Through the opening, through the drawn curtains, you can see the Potomac River valley, which was washingtons key to opening up the west and securing the west to america through access to the atlantic seaboard. Washington owned a lot of acreage along the potomac drainage area, more out west, though. And of course he gave his name to the city whose map martha is pointing at with her fan. One of the things about this portrait is its so fun to read. When i teach my class and teach them how to read a document, im not limiting myself to little documents. Anything can be a document to be read, okay . Like a painting needs to be read. And so this one should be read as washington being a family man. We can see that. Very, very proud of the city that would bear his name. I want to draw attention to the fact that and youre sorry to miss this point, theres actually a sort of an apostolic success thats going on, from the city of washington, where washington is resting his left hand by his sword, and his right hand is resting on the shoulder of his adopted grandson custis, whose hand in turn is resting on a globe. You could say, oh, this is washington, dc, the capital of the new nation, extending its maybe not hegemony but its influence over the entire globe one day. Pretty cheeky stuff for 1796. From our perspective today, its interesting to read. Again, youll be sorry to miss that point. The man in the right, the africanamerican manservant, its not william lee. I cant remember the name of the guy. Historians who know this stuff feel pretty confident who it is. But its not washingtons manservant, at least. I have so many gizmos to operate here. The other thing we have to thank Edward Savage for is, he painted the first image we have of mt. Vernon. He painted it in 1791. It wasnt displayed until 1802. But he does get the distinction of having the first one on canvas. This is actually mt. Vernon, you can see it today. The first one the people would have seen and that began a long tradition of upholding mt. Vernon as an icon, which it really is today, lets face it, you see any house with a lawn, piazza, porch, columns, particularly if it has a cupola, the first thing you think is, its a mt. Vernon spinoff. I dont want to take responsibility for remembering to point that out, the more important thing about this image, besides it being the first public image of mount vernon, is that its supposed to honor George Washingtons resignation. Notwithstanding the fact that hes wearing a generals uniform. Its an image to honor his resignation from the presidency just two years earlier. But washingtons whole career was really a career, a surrender in power. This is going to be very important later on. Well touch on it right now with probably the most important image of washington as someone who surrenders power. Washington as scincinattus, who gave up farming when he was called by his country, fought the enemy, came back and resumed farming instead of holding on to dictatorial powers, much like washingtons career. He was called from his plantation in mt. Vernon to serve as commander in chief. When he resigned in 1783, it was one of the most amazing acts in human history. George iii said if he gives up power, hell be the most famous man in history. So we see George Washington as cincinattus, done by jean antoine udon. This is the installation of udons famous statue in the virginia statehouse in richmond, 1796. Again, this is something we can read. What are some of the things you notice . You notice the fasces, a word that was perfectly fine to use in the 18th century but its gotten some bad rap from hello, pressed the wrong button. Ugh. The fasces were symbols of unity, axe handles to symbolize coming together, more strength in a bunch of sticks than one stick. But washingtons cloak is draped over it, yes, the power is there, but its being neutralized aboneutralize ed by my cloak. The plow is waiting for him behind him, very much a farmer just like cincinnati. We all know apotheosis. This is an apotheosis much closer to washingtons death. Its by john james barrelette. By this time washingtons face is recognizable. Were actually at the point where almost everywhere recognizes Gilbert Stuarts face. Against, its multitasking. He plops Gilbert Stuarts athenaeum face on a body of washington. I call this an orgy of allegory. Many of us recognize the phrigian cap, which represents the liberty given to enslave people. Liberty itself is stamping on a snake which was harkening back to eden, at the time when snakes were evil. We find father time here with a scythe and the hourglass. These are sort of universal symbols of times passage. I want to call attention to the native american who is repining in sadness at the lower right. This is probably the most historically factual message of this entire scene, because in fact no president equalled George Washington in the humanitarian policy he showed towards native americans. Even before washingtons death, he becomes a major focus of history paintings in