Date: February 27, 2009 From: The Examiner |
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The Eye: Gilbert Stuart By Chris Klimek |
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| WASHINGTON – Name: Franklin Kelly Occupation: Deputy Director and Chief Curator, National Gallery of Art Residence: Dupont Circle area Why I love this piece: I love the way it's painted. Stuart is incredibly good at getting a sense of likeness and vitality, but then also doing these flourishes of paint that are, in themselves, beautiful. She's wearing an elaborate headdress, and at the back of that, there's a kind of highlight of light on the fabric; almost a U-shape. It's just a simple stroke of paint, laying there on the surface, but incredibly sure and almost poetic. It's so beautiful. The same thing is true with that wonderful gesture of her little finger pulling that thread she's holding. It's a perfect little touch.
(art: Gilbert Stuart (painter), American, 1755 - 1828, Catherine Brass Yates (Mrs. Richard Yates), 1793/1794; oil on canvas; Overall: 76.2 x 63.5 cm (30 x 25 in.) framed: 99.1 x 85.7 cm (39 x 33 3/4 in.); Andrew W. Mellon Collection; 1940.1.4) — Courtesy Photo If you go |
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The
painting is meant to be an image of a real woman, of course. And how
Stuart chose to depict her may have been his decision, or hers — most
likely it was both of theirs. She's shown doing something very simple,
in beautiful costume, but then he adds those painterly flourishes that
are so appealing to modern eyes, and obviously were appealing to his
contemporaries, too. People sometimes ask me, "Who would you like
to have paint your portrait? [John Singer] Sargent?" And I say,
"Well, Sargent would be nice, but Gilbert Stuart would be nice,
too!" I just love how beautifully he handles paint.