Press Room:
Acclaimed Exhibition to Celebrate Finale at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock

For more information contact:
Eric Goldberg
Jessica Olshen
Clifford Public Relations
(212) 358-0800

Anne Christiansen
National Portrait Gallery
(202) 275-1764

Emily Fraize
Arkansas Arts Center
(501) 396-0308

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Acclaimed Exhibition to Celebrate Finale at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock

The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery concludes its most important and ambitious touring exhibition to date: "George Washington: A National Treasure." The multi-city tour celebrating our nation's first president - the man, the icon, the hero - will arrive at the Arkansas Arts Center in the Strauss Gallery on April 23, 2004 and will be on view through August 22, 2004. Little Rock marks the last stop on the portrait's historic national tour, after which Washington will retire permanently to the nation's capitol. It is unlikely the portrait will ever travel again.

Portrait of Heroism The iconic portrait of George Washington, painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1796, is also known as the Lansdowne portrait. The portrait is a true national treasure, one whose historical and cultural importance has been compared to that of the Liberty Bell and the Declaration of Independence. In addition to providing funds to keep this treasure at the National Portrait Gallery, the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation has sponsored this first-ever national tour of the portrait, as well as facilitating the creation of educational materials, accompanying programs, and a special gallery at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. where the portrait will return at the conclusion of the tour.

"George Washington - and the heroism, patriotism, and self-sacrifice he embodied - is one of America's most precious treasures," said Marc Pachter, director of the National Portrait Gallery. "As the tour has progressed, it's been inspiring to see how Americans from across the country have responded to this great American. The response has proven, again and again, that Washington's legacy is alive and well in America today. We are very excited for President Washington to be taking his final bow in Little Rock, and expect it to be a great finale for the tour of the greatest portrait of the American Presidency."

Map of Our Nation
"George Washington: A National Treasure" represents a once-in-a-lifetime chance for millions of Americans to see this famous icon - one of the most significant visual documents of the founding of our nation - first-hand. The tour, which began Presidents' weekend in 2001, has traveled to six cities across the nation already: Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Seattle, Minneapolis, and Oklahoma City, and will visit in Little Rock for its victory lap. More than 380,000 people have seen the portrait on this historic national tour.

Education is a key component of this inspiring exhibition. The National Portrait Gallery has developed an expansive educational agenda, chaired by Secretary of Education Rod Paige, that brings both the portrait and the man behind the image to life. The educational element of the tour has reached people of all ages in the venue cities and nationally.

Additionally, visitors can experience the Lansdowne online at www.georgewashington.si.edu. The web site continues to serve as a resource for teachers, offering an array of free teaching materials at all grade levels. It also caters to history buffs, parents and children who would like to learn more about the man, the portrait and the country. The web site performs as an interactive teacher, allowing guests to download information, participate in online programs and order educational materials for the classroom.

About the Portrait
Painted by Gilbert Stuart, the most prestigious portraitist of his day, the 208-year-old painting has a storied past. It was commissioned in 1796 by one of America's wealthiest men, Sen. William Bingham of Pennsylvania, for the Marquis of Lansdown, an English supporter of the American cause in Parliament during the American Revolution. The gift was a remarkable gesture of gratitude and a symbol of reconciliation between America and Great Britain. The painting was displayed in Lansdowne's London mansion until his death in 1805, after which it remained in private hands and was eventually incorporated into the collection of the 5th Earl of Rosebery around 1890. The portrait was later hung in Dalmeny House, in West Lothian, Scotland. It has traveled to America only three times since its creation, the last time when it was loaned to the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in 1968.

Painted from life, the 8-foot-by-5-foot portrait shows Washington in a black velvet suit, with an oratorical gesture of the outstretched hand, the way he would appear at state occasions during his presidency. The composition and background originated with Stuart's portfolio of European engravings, but was much altered to reflect the symbolism of the American republic. Iconic symbols in the painting include the oval medallion decorating the back of the armchair, on which is seen a blue horizontal field with thirteen red and white vertical stripes, the table leg designed to resemble an ancient Roman symbol of political unity, and the rainbow in the upper-right corner represents the end of the stormy days of the American Revolution.

Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828) was the preeminent portraitist in the United States in the early 19th century. He recorded likenesses of American lawyers, politicians, landowners and diplomats, and their wives and children, painting nearly 1,000 portraits in his lifetime. His subjects included numerous presidents and other well-known figures, including Paul Revere, Abigail Adams, and Mohawk Chief Joseph Brandt.

In preparation for the 1968 opening of the National Portrait Gallery, Charles Nagel, the first director, sought out "a picture of the father of our country from which the collection would flow forward and back in the point of time." Such was the Lansdowne portrait, which became the central attraction at the Gallery. In spring 2001, the National Portrait Gallery rescued the portrait from potential auction, thanks to a generous $30 million gift from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation of Las Vegas, Nevada. By making the National Portrait Gallery the painting's permanent home, the foundation has preserved this American artifact for generations to come.

For more information about "George Washington: A National Treasure" and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, please call Clifford Public Relations at (212) 358-0800. For media purposes only, a high-resolution image of the portrait can be found at ftp://160.111.16.40/pub/npgart/.