GEORGE WASHINGTON

Frederick Kemmelmeyer worked as an itinerant artist in the Backcountry, mostly in western Maryland and Virginia. In addition to painting portraits, he showed unusual ambition in painting a number of multi-figural historical paintings. He was particularly interested in George Washington and painted portraits of the pater patriae in addition to works celebrating his military victories. The Kemmelmeyer portrait of George Washington in MESDA's collection documents the wide interest among Americans in having images of the first president in their homes. This cameo-style portrait, with its use of gilding to highlight details of Washington's uniform, emphasizes Washington as a great military leader, in contrast to the presidential image created and popularized by Gilbert Stuart that shows Washington in civilian attire.