The subject of this portrait is presently misidentified. The sitter is Jean Baptiste Breschard as identified by G.W. Riggs in 1879 and exhibited as Breschard at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 1880.
circus rider Posted by Martin Coutant on 1.December 2008, 13:48
ive always found this portrait of great intrest becasue of the writing at the bottom..is it in Stuarts own hand does anyone know?..and what does the writing say?
Posted by jack bagley on 6.July 2009, 14:53
This is a portrait of John Bill Ricketts, identified by Gilbert Stuart on the bottom left of the painting. Ricketts opened the first circus in America in 1793, in Philadelphia. He was active -- and very successful -- in the U.S. from 1793 to 1800. Stuart commented of the difficulty to keep Ricketts still, and he never finished the portrait. Breschard is another equestrian (of French origins), who came on the circus scene much later.
Posted by Dominique Jando on 11.July 2009, 16:51
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-icon.jpg "John Bill Ricketts (unfinished) - Gilbert Stuart - www.gilbert-stuart.org"){kind=icon}
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-icon.jpg "Martha Washington (The Athenaeum Portrait) - Gilbert Stuart - www.gilbert-stuart.org"){kind=icon}
-icon.jpg "John Bill Ricketts (unfinished) - Gilbert Stuart - www.gilbert-stuart.org"){kind=icon}
.jpg "John Bill Ricketts (unfinished) - Gilbert Stuart - www.gilbert-stuart.org")
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