Art Institute of Chicago

Major-General Henry Dearborn

Gilbert Stuart (American, 1755–1828)

Date

1812

Medium

Oil on mahogany panel

Culture

Roxbury

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Gilbert Stuart’s idealized portrayal of Major-General Henry Dearborn presents an aging, yet robust military leader invigorated by power and the challenge of the War of 1812. A Revolutionary War hero who served as secretary of war during Thomas Jefferson’s two presidential terms (1801–09), Dearborn continued his service as senior major-general in the 1812 campaign. This work is one of several likenesses Stuart executed of American military and political men, among them his well-known depictions of George Washington. Stuart painted directly on the panel or canvas over the course of several sittings, capturing the new country’s fervent nationalism in skillful, vigorous portraits.

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