A portrait of the famous 18th/19th Century English actress Sarah Siddons by Jane Stuart (Daughter of Gilbert Stuart) (1812Ð1888) | Entitled ÒPortrait of Sarah SiddonsÓ | Oil on Canvas | Condition: Very Good Ð recently professionally cleaned. Previously underwent restoration and was relined. Has small paint wear in a background area left of figure. No in-painting on face, skin or hands | Housed in what appears to be the original gold gilt gesso wood frame | Dimensions: Approx. 30.5 in. x 25 in. | Gilbert Stuart's daughter, Jane Stuart, was an acclaimed portraitist in her own right. She often (re)painted her fathers portraits, and participated with her father in creating new portraits. In either case, it is well known that Jane Stuart copied a great deal of her fatherÕs work | The first portrait of Sarah Siddons by Gilbert Stuart was gifted to the National Portrait Gallery in London by John Thadeus Delane in 1858. Sarah Siddons (5 July 1755 Ð 8 June 1831) was a Welsh-born actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. She was the elder sister of John Philip Kemble, Charles Kemble, Stephen Kemble, Ann Hatton and Elizabeth Whitlock, and the aunt of Fanny Kemble. She was most famous for her portrayal of the Shakespearean character, Lady Macbeth, a character she made her own, and for famously fainting at the sight of the Elgin Marbles in London. The Sarah Siddons Society continues to present the Sarah Siddons Award in Chicago every year to a prominent actress. Siddons was the subject of several famous works of art including a portrait by Thomas Gainsborough, the ÒStatue of Sarah SiddonsÓ by Leon-Joseph Chavalliaud, the famous portrait by Joshua Reynolds titled ÒMrs. Siddons as the Tragic MuseÓ (1784.) and of course the portrait by the Gilbert Stuart (Massachusetts/ England, 1755-1828) Ð which is in the National Portrait Gallery in London. At age 18, the newly married Ms. Siddons joined a new acting company. It was while playing at Cheltenham in 1774 that she met with the earliest recognition of her powers as an actress, when by her portrayal of Belvidera in Thomas OtwayÕs Venice PreservÕd she won the appreciation of a party of Òpeople of qualityÓ who had come to scoff. When the theatrical producer David Garrick was told of her acting prowess, he sent a representative to see her. At the time, she was playing Rosalind in As You Like It in a barn in Worcestershire. Garrick offered her an engagement, but when she appeared with him at Drury Lane, London, in 1775, she was a failure. She then went back on tour in the country, where she earned a reputation as the queen of tragedy on the English stage. Siddons played many of the great roles of tragedy, eschewing comedy. Among her greatest roles were Isabella, Belvidera in Venice PreservÕd, Jane Shore in The Tragedy of Jane Shore, Katharine in Henry VIII, Constance in King John, Zara in The Mourning Bride, and Volumnia in Coriolanus, and mostly acclaimed as Lady Macbeth. Her success was due to her complete concentration upon the character whom she played: she identified herself with a role and seemed possessed by it, oblivious of all else around her. Portraits of her were painted by Thomas Gainsborough, Sir Thomas Lawrence, and Sir Joshua Reynolds; Reynolds entitled his painting Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse. William Hazlitt wrote of her that Òpassion emanated from her breast as from a shrine. She was tragedy personified.Ó Gilbert Charles Stuart (December 3, 1755 Ð July 9, 1828) was an American painter from Rhode Island. Gilbert Stuart is widely considered one of AmericaÕs foremost portraitists. His best known work, the unfinished portrait of George Washington that is sometimes referred to as The Athenaeum, was begun in 1796 and never finished. Stuart retained the portrait and used it to paint 130 copies which he sold for $100 each. The image of George Washington featured in the painting has appeared on the United States one-dollar bill for over a century, and on various U.S. Postage stamps of the 19th century and early 20th century. Throughout his career, Gilbert Stuart produced portraits of over 1,000 people, including the first six Presidents of the United States. His work can be found today at art museums across the United States and the United Kingdom, most notably the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Frick Collection in New York City, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the National Portrait Gallery, London, Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. By the end of his career, Gilbert Stuart had taken the likenesses of over one thousand American political and social figures. He was praised for the vitality and naturalness of his portraits, and his subjects found his company agreeable. John Adams, for example, said: ÒSpeaking generally, no penance is like having oneÕs picture done. You must sit in a constrained and unnatural position, which is a trial to the temper. But I should like to sit to Stuart from the first of January to the last of December, for he lets me do just what I please, and keeps me constantly amused by his conversation. Stuart was known for working without the aid of sketches, beginning directly upon the canvas. This was very unusual for the time period. His approach is suggested by the advice he gave to his pupil Matthew Harris Jouett: ÒNever be sparing of colour, load your pictures, but keep your colours as separate as you can. No blending, tis destruction to clear and beautiful effect.Ó StuartÕs works can be found today at art museums and private collections throughout the United States and Great Britain, including the University Club in New York City, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the National Portrait Gallery in London, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. His daughter, Jane Stuart (1812Ð1888) sold many of his paintings and her replicas of them from her studios in Boston and Newport, Rhode Island. A life mask of Stuart was created by John Henri Isaac Browere around 1825. In 1940, the U.S. Post Office issued a series of Postage stamps called the ÔFamous Americans SeriesÕ commemorating famous Artists, Authors, Inventors, Scientists, Poets, Educators and Musicians. Along with the artists James McNeil Whistler, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Daniel Chester French and Frederic Remington, Gilbert Stuart is found on the 1 cent issue in the Artists category. Today, StuartÕs birthplace in Saunderstown, Rhode Island is open to the public as the Gilbert Stuart Birthplace and Museum. The museum consists of the original house Stuart was born in, with copies of paintings from throughout his career hanging throughout the house. The museum opened in 1930. Jane StuartÕs painted copies of her fatherÕs works have sold for upwards of $194,000. Dimensions: 30.5 in. x 25 in Artist or Maker: Jane Stuart Medium: Oil on Canvas Date: 19th Century Condition Report: Very Good Condition Ð recently professionally cleaned. Previously underwent restoration and was relined.

Very Good Condition Ð recently professionally cleaned. Previously underwent restoration and was relined.