Gilbert Stuart 1755-1828

The artist, until 1828
By descent in his family
John P. Beaumont, 1836
Sale: Estate of John P. Beaumont, New York, April 19, 1870
James Lenox, New York, 1870 (acquired at the above sale)
Lenox Library, New York, 1876

New York, Leeds Art Galleries, Catalogue of the Rare and Extensive Works of Art of J.P. Beaumont, April 1870, p. 36
Washington, D.C., The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Loan Exhibition of Portraits of the Signers and Deputies to the Convention of 1787 and Signers of the Declaration of Independence, Including Thier Families an Associates, In Commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the Formation of the Constitution of the United States, November 1937-February 1938, no. 154, pp. 116-18, illustrated
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Phildadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphians and the China Trade 1784-1844, 1984, p. 63, illustrated

Henry T. Tuckerman, Book of the Artists: American Artist Life, vol. 1, New York, 1867, p. 109
Charles Henry Hart, "Mary White-Mrs. Morris," Pennsylvania Magazine of History, 1878, p. 183
Lenox Library, A Guide to the Paintings and Sculpture Exhibited to the Public, 1878, no. 65
George C. Mason, The Life and Work of Gilbert Stuart, New York, 1879, p. 225
Exhibition of Portraits by Gilbert Stuart, Boston, Massachusetts, 1880, p. 48
Clarence Winthrop Bowen, The Centennial Celebration of the Inauguration of George Washington as First President of the United States, New York, 1892, illustrated opp. p. 58
The New York Public Library, Catalogue of Paintings in the Lenox Gallery, 1897, no. 50
Charles Henry Hart, "Two Women of the Eighteenth Century: Gilbert Stuart's Portraits of Women," Century Illustrated Magazine For the People, January 1902, pp. 374-76, wood engraving of the original illustrated
John Hill Morgan, Early American Portrait Painters, New York, 1921, p. 80 (as Mrs. Lewis Morris)
Lawrence Park, Gilbert Stuart, An Illustrated Descriptive List of His Works, vols. 1,2, New York, 1927, pp. 48, 61, 534, illustrated
Cuthbert Lee, Early American Portrait Painters, New Haven, Connecticut, 1929, p. 44, illustrated
Frederic Fairchild Sherman, Early American Painting, New York, 1932, p. 77
Eleanor Young, Forgotten Patriot Robert Morris, New York, 1950, p. 194
Charles Merrill Mount, Gilbert Stuart, A Biography, New York, 1964, pp. 191, 372

Mary White (1749-1827), a wealthy Philadelphian, married Robert Morris (1734-1806) at the age of 20 in 1769.  Morris, a native of Liverpool, England moved to Philadelphia and quickly emerged as a partner in one of the leading mercantile firms in the area.  He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1775 and also signed the Declaration of Independence.  Morris later established the Pennsylvania Bank and founded the Bank of North America, earning him the reputation as the ‘Financier of the American Revolution.’  George Washington appointed Morris Secretary of the Treasury but he declined, suggesting Alexander Hamilton instead. 

Morris’ political prominence provided Mary with several important social contacts, including Martha Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette and she was quite popular in Philadelphia society.  Charles H. Hart, a 19^th century historian writes, "Mrs. Morris possessed the highest qualities of mind and heart.  She was tall, graceful and commanding, with a stately dignity of manner which ever made a controlling impression upon all with whom she was brought in contact” (“Mary White-Mrs. Robert Morris,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Philadelphia, 1878).  Even after her husband’s death, she had the distinct honor of being the first person Lafayette visited on his tour of 1824 and, at his specific request, she attended the civic ball in his honor at the age of 76.

Gilbert Stuart painted both Mary and her husband in Philadelphia in 1795.  There are two other known portraits of Mrs. Morris, one by Charles Willson Peale and a miniature by John Trumbull.

The portrait image (17 1/2  by 14 1/2  in.) has been cut from its original canvas and mounted on the present canvas.