George Washington

c. 1796

Edward Savage

Painter, American, 1761 - 1817

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Sophia Dwight Foster Burnside [Mrs. Samuel MacGregor Burnside, b. 1787], Worcester, Massachusetts; her daughter, Harriet Pamela Foster Burnside [1827-1903], Worcester, Massachusetts; bequeathed to Roger Sherman Baldwin Foster [1857-1924], New York;[1] his widow, Laura Pugh Moxley Foster Fitch;[2] (Fridenberg Galleries, New York, 1929);[3] (Russell W. Thorpe, Flushing, New York);[4] acquired 1929 by Francis Patrick Garvan [1875-1937], New York;[5] his estate; (M. Knoedler & Co., New York); sold 24 January 1947 to Henry Prather Fletcher [1873-1959], Newport, Rhode Island;[6] bequest 1960 to NGA.
[1] The early provenance is in John Hill Morgan and Mantle Fielding, The Life Portraits of Washington and their Replicas, Philadelphia, 1931, 182, no. 6. According to Knoedler, "SOPHIA R.F. BURNSIDE" is written on the reverse of the original canvas; see letter and provenance sheet from Elizabeth Clare, M. Knoedler & Co., 17 March 1960 (NGA curatorial file). Harriet Burnside left most of her estate to the children of her cousin Dwight Foster, among them Roger Foster; will, dated 10 July 1899, copy in NGA curatorial file. On the Fosters see Frederick Clifton Pierce, Foster Genealogy (Chicago, 1899), 222.
[2] Fitch provided the provenance in a letter to Harry MacNeill Bland of Fridenberg Galleries, 10 April 1929 (typed copy, NGA curatorial file, provided by Elizabeth Clare, M. Knoedler & Co., 17 March 1960).
[3] Information provided by the Frick Art Reference Library, based on a letter from Harry MacNeill Bland, Fridenberg Galleries, New York, 24 March 1930.
[4] Information from the Frick Art Reference Library, based on a letter from Russell W. Thorpe, 13 February 1942.
[5] For his dates, see Who Was Who in America, 1 (1897-1942) (Chicago, 1966), 442; Mrs. Garvan lent the painting to the American Art Galleries exhibition in September 1929.
[6] Letters from Elizabeth Clare, M. Knoedler & Co., 22 March 1960 and 1 April 1960, NGA curatorial file. Fletcher is listed in Who Was Who in America, 3 (1951-1960) (Chicago, 1963), 288.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1929

  • Loan Exhibition of Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century Furniture and Glass...Portraits by Stuart, Peale, and Others. For the benefit of the National Council of Girl Scouts, Inc., American Art Galleries, New York, 1929, no. 839

1931

  • Washington Bicentennial Exhibition, Grolier Club, December 1931-January 1932

1932

  • Homewood, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 1932-1946

  • Washington Bicentennial Exhibition, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 1932, no cat.

1947

  • Loan Exhibition of Portraits of Washington, Scott & Fowles, Inc., New York, 1947, unnumbered

1974

  • Extended loan for use by Vice Presidents Gerald Ford and Nelson Rockefeller, Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C., 1974-1977.

1978

  • Extended loan for use by Secretary Edmund G. Muskie, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C., 1978-1980.

1981

  • Extended loan for use by Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger, U.S. Department of Defense, Washington, D.C., 1981-1987.

1987

  • Extended loan for use by Secretary Frank Carlucci, U.S. Department of Defense, Washington, D.C., 1987-1989.

1989

  • Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of NATO, NATO Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, 1989.

1996

  • Loan for display with permanent collection, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1996-2000.

2002

  • Extended loan for use by Attorney General John Ashcroft, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., 2002-2005.

2005

  • Extended loan for use by Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., 2005-2007.

2007

  • Extended loan for use by Attorney General Michael Mukasey, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., 2007-2008.

2015

  • Extended loan for use by Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., 2015.

2017

  • Extended loan for use by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., 2017-2018.

2018

  • Extended loan for use by Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., 2018-2019.

Bibliography

1931

  • Morgan, John Hill, and Mantle Fielding. The Life Portraits of Washington and Their Replicas. Philadelphia, 1931: 182, no. 6, repro. opp.

1932

  • Eisen, Gustavus A. Portraits of Washington. 3 vols. New York, 1932: 2:461-462, plate 98.

1970

  • American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 98, repro.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 220, repro.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 334, repro.

1995

  • Miles, Ellen G. American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1995: 158-160, repro. 159.

Wikidata ID

Q20180287

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