George Washington (The Athenaeum Portrait)
1796 · Oil on canvas · National Portrait Gallery, Washington, and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
📦 Free shipping on every order, arriving in 4–9 business days with production included. Express ($14.90) at checkout arrives in 4–6 business days.
This print

About this work
- Artist
- Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828)
- Year
- 1796
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 121.9 × 88 cm
- Collection
- National Portrait Gallery, Washington, and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (jointly owned)
- Movement
- Colonial American
George Washington's head and shoulders emerge from a bare, unfinished canvas. Stuart painted it from life in 1796, deliberately left it unfinished and kept it for the rest of his life, using it to paint some seventy copies for sale. It is the source of the engraving on the American one-dollar bill. It is owned jointly by the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
The most familiar face in American history for a study, office or hallway in a dark wood frame. It suits warm white, navy or deep green walls and is a gift for a history lover.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Colonial American painting
- Era
- 18th century (1796)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- intimate
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, home office, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — dark wood flatters the lighter palette; black sharpens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is George Washington (The Athenaeum Portrait) in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was George Washington (The Athenaeum Portrait) painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
























