.png){kind=logo}
Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object name |
Painting |
Title |
Washington Receiving Notice of his Election as President |
Artist or maker |
John Ward Dunsmore (1856-1945) |
Date |
1911 |
Place of origin |
United States |
Materials and techniques |
oil on canvas |
Physical description |
In 1789 Washington was unanimously elected President by all members of the first Congress of the United States. An official letter was written informing Washington of this action. It was delivered to Washington via Charles Thompson, the Secretary of the Congress. In execution of this mission, Mr Thompson proceeded on horseback to Mount Vernon. At Alexandria he was joined by Dr. Craik and Mr Huber, friends of Washington. They reached Mount Vernon about 10:30 on the morning of the fourteenth of April. As was his custom, Washington was out looking after the work on portions of his farm, and did not return to his house to nearly one o'clock, when he greeted Mr Thompson most warmly, they having passed together through the trying period of the country's stuggle - one on the field of battle, the other in the halls of legislation. After refreshments-that being the hour for dinner-they retired to the library where Mr Thompson arose with an air of formality, and, explaining the object of his mission and the pleasure it gave him to be the bearer of such a message, presented the dispatch he had brought from Mr Landon. He then closed the proceedings with a short formal address. General Washington took the dispatch and that evening replied by letter to Congress. Two days later he left for New York. An original oil painting (painted 1911) by John Ward Dunsmore, of General George Washington receiving notification of his unanimous election, by Congress, as first president of the United States, on April 14, 1789. Washington had been officially elected on April 6, at which time the president pro tem of the Senate, John Landon, wrote a letter of notification. The letter was delivered to Washington by the secretary of Congress, Charles Thomson, at his home in Mount Vernon. The scene takes place in the parlor, or possibly library, of the Washingtons' home in Mount Vernon. Two doors, one on either side of a large bookcase, fill the wall behind Washington. The door on the left is open, revealing some greenery and sky outside. One man, in a green coat, stands near the lit fireplace. George Washington stands, his hands resting on the table in the center of the room (right) and a chair (left), while another man, presumably Thomson, hands him the letter of notification. The three remaining men, in brightly colored coats, stand, watching. Martha Washington sits in the back, leaning forward. A brown dog lies near General Washington's feet. |
Past exhibit |
Dunsmore: Illustrating the American Revolutionary War |
Catalogue number |
1936.02.005 |
Collection name |
Paintings and Sculpture |
Credit line |
Gift of George A. Zabriskie Memorial, 1936 |
People |
Dunsmore, John Ward Washington, George |
Subjects and places |
American Presidents American Revolution Congress First President George Washington Mount Vernon |