Please tell me.
I’m not sure, but I think either Washington, or the artist died before they could finish.
Stuart had an intense dislike for Washington, as well, and made sure to accentuate the pinched expression Washington got from wearing his poorly fitted false teeth.
IIRC, it had something to do with the portrait being in the White House when it was burned by the British during the War of 1812, and it was damaged by water while fighting the fire.
Naw. I remember reading that it was one of the items Dolly Madison grabbed as she fled the White House before the British reached Washington.
Actually, though, the truth of the matter is that the bottom was torn off when Jebediah Springfield stepped on it while fighting with George.
That’s AKA Hans Sprungfeld, the notorious pirate, IIRC.
The portrait in the White House was a different one, one of him standing. it was rescued by Dolly Madison, IIRC.
As the other link intimated, Stuart left the protrait undone and kept using it as a study for other works. All told, he painted over 100 portraits of Washington (although the unfinished one was not the basis for all of them).
I think in school we learned that Martha was actually quite peeved with Stuart over the delay, but I’m not sure if that’s true.
According to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, Stuart had a reputation for being “irritatingly slow in completing commissions.”
It was intended to be a pendant to a portrait of Martha, which was also left unfinished. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (the painting is in their collection) affirms that Martha didn’t like Stuart’s portrayal of George:
If Martha canceled the commission, then Stuart didn’t have any real motivation to finish it.
Off hand, I’d say Skopo’s answer looks like the right one.
Nevertheless, there is yet another explanation I’ve read. Supposedly, Washington hated sitting for a portrait, and frequently failed to show up when scheduled. Eventually he stopped coming, and Stuart, who was doing this one purely from life (unlike many of his other protraits of Washington) left it unfinished, possibly as a sign of protest.
The story I heard was that Stuart was commissioned to paint Washington and was supposed to deliver the painting as soon as it was finished. However, after he painted the majority of the picture, Stuart used the portrait as a model for additional pictures of Washington which he sold for extra income. So he intentionally kept the portrait unfinished so he didn’t have to deliver the finished painting.
Sections had to be white-washed over. The details of the 1780’s-style death ray George was holding were too visible and would have encouraged copycats.
It seems unlikely that Stuart would have left the bottom corner unfinished to make some kind of statement.
Mrs. Washington or anyone could have hired another painter (perhaps even an assitant from Stuart’s studio) to finish the painting making Stuart look like an ass.