English: Gilbert Stuart (1755 - 1828)

Portrait of Mrs. Jonathan Mason

oil on panel

28¾ x 23½ in. (73 x 59.7 cm.)

Executed in 1805.

Executed in 1805, the present work is an eloquent portrait of Susannah Powell Mason, the wife of Jonathan Mason (1756 - 1831). Representing the state of Massachusetts, Mason served as a member of the governor’s council, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the U.S. Senate. Gilbert Stuart painted both Mason’s wife and his daughter Anna several times. Another portrait of Susannah Mason by Gilbert Stuart hangs today at the Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University. A personal and evocative painting, Portrait of Mrs. Jonathan Mason remained with the family for over a hundred years, during which it was exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Boston Museum of Fine Arts twice. Acquired in 1978 by the present owners, the work has now been in the same private collection for almost fifty years.