Artwork
Lawrence Reid Yates
Lawrence Reid Yates is an oil painting by the Romanticist artist Gilbert Stuart. It dates from 1794 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Gilbert Stuart’s oil portrait, completed in 1794, presents Lawrence Reid Yates seated in a chair. The work measures the conventions of late eighteenth‑century American portraiture, focusing on a dignified, solitary figure rendered in a restrained palette.
Subject & Meaning
The sitter, Lawrence Reid Yates, is shown with greying hair, dressed in a gray coat, white ruffled shirt, and tan vest. His posture—arms resting on his thighs and a solemn expression—conveys a sense of composure and social standing, typical of portraits intended to affirm the subject’s status.
Technique & Style
Stuart employs oil on canvas with careful modeling of flesh tones and subtle chiaroscuro to suggest depth. The brushwork is smooth, emphasizing the textures of fabric and the sitter’s features without overt dramatization, aligning with the neoclassical restraint prevalent among his contemporaries.
History & Provenance
Executed in 1794, the portrait entered private collections shortly after its completion. Documentation traces its ownership through several American families before it was acquired by a regional museum in the early twentieth century, where it remains on display as an example of Stuart’s early portrait practice.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Gilbert Stuart (né Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter born in the Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists.
