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MARSHALL, William Edgar after Gilbert STUART
[George Washington]
Boston: Published by Ticknor & Fields, 135 Washington Street, Nov. 15, 1862. Line engraving. Signed in pencil by the engraver in the bottom right margin. Printed on fine india paper laid onto thick cream wove as issued. In good condition with the exception of some minor foxing in the margins and some surface soiling outside the image. Waterstain in bottom right corner and paper loss in upper left corner. Image size: 13 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches. Plate mark: 22 1/2 x 16 1/4 inches. Sheet size: 24 7/8 x 20 7/16 inches.
A stunning signed impression of this famous portrait of George Washington by William Marshall after the portrait by Gilbert Stuart.
William Edgar Marshall was a New York born painter and engraver who started his artistic career as an engraver of decorative pocket watches. During the Civil War, Marshall studied in France under Thomas Couture, returning in 1865 to an already established career. His precise technique and beautiful artistic eye made him one of the best loved American engravers, and his presidential portraits of Lincoln and Washington are among some of the most cherished images of these great men. Marshall's engraving reproduces the famous portrait of Washington by Gilbert Stuart known as the "Athenaeum" likeness, hence named because it was owned by the Boston Athenaeum. The "Athenaeum" likeness established an inexorable hold on public consciousness and became one of the best known representations of Washington. Along with Marshall, a myriad of printmakers became fascinated with Stuart's portrait, making it a widely recognized image and ensuring its place in history as one of the best-loved likenesses of this founding father. As Wick states 'Stuart's enduring, patriarchal image was to have an extraordinary influence, eventually dominating the visual conception of Washington almost to the exclusion of any other likeness'. (Wick, 58)
Hart, Catalogue of Engraved Portraits of Washington 426d state v/viiii; Wick, George Washington an American Icon 58-63
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#8635 $1,200.00 
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© 2002-2005 Donald A. Heald
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