Gilbert Stuart (né Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter born in the Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists.

[5] Stuart was born on December 3, 1755, in Saunderstown, a village of North Kingstown in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and he was baptized at Old Narragansett Church on April 11, 1756.

[4] Stuart's father owned the first snuff mill in America, which was located in the basement of the family homestead.

[9] Stuart moved to Newport, Rhode Island, at the age of six, where his father pursued work in the merchant field.

[17] By 1782, Stuart had met with success, largely due to acclaim for The Skater, a portrait of Sir William Grant.

[19] The prices for his pictures were exceeded only by those of renowned English artists Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough.

[21] He settled briefly in New York City and pursued portrait commissions from influential people who could bring him to Washington's attention.

[17] Stuart painted Washington in a series of iconic portraits, each of them leading to a demand for copies and keeping him busy and highly paid for years.

[24] The most famous and celebrated of these likenesses, the Athenaeum portrait, is portrayed on the United States one-dollar bill.

[38] In 1824, Stuart suffered a stroke which left him partially paralyzed, but he continued to paint for two years until his death in Boston on July 9, 1828, at 72.

Stuart left his family deeply in debt, and his wife and daughters were unable to purchase a grave site.

[42] The Boston Athenæum held a benefit exhibition of Stuart's works in August 1828 in an effort to provide financial aid for his family.

[43] By the end of his career, Gilbert Stuart had painted the likenesses of more than 1,000 American political and social figures.

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.

At Stuart's best, he had an extraordinary ability to convey the impression of "luminous, transparent flesh" with color coming from beneath.

Gilbert Stuart is found on the 1 cent issue in the artists category, along with James McNeill Whistler, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Daniel Chester French, and Frederic Remington.

[49] Gilbert Stuart's paintings of Washington, Jefferson, and others have served as models for dozens of U.S. postage stamps.