Gilbert Stuart more than dollar bill artist says filmmaker

10/28/04 - Everyone recognizes the face on the one-dollar bill, but the artist that drew him is surprisingly unknown. Jim Wolpaw, a filmmaker teaching film courses at the University of Rhode Island, is currently making a documentary on Gilbert Stuart, showing the artist as more than just the man who drew the one-dollar bill.

"You probably couldn't find two people that were more different in personality and character than Washington and Stuart," Wolpaw said.

The half hour film, Gilbert Stuart: A Portrait From Life, is being made for the Gilbert Stuart Birthplace, in Saunderstown, RI. He hopes to be finished with it by the summer.

There is a nine-minute trailer for the film, which gives the feel of what it will be like, Wolpaw says. There is a strong historical background with an element of humor as well.

Wolpaw is also working on an hour-long documentary aimed at a larger audience. The film is "essentially a history of the Washington portrait," and its different aspects and personalities, Wolpaw said. More funding will be needed to complete the film, he said.

Stuart was born in his father's snuff mill in Saunderstown, the first one in the country. He lived there until his family moved to Newport when he was seven years old.

"As a kid he showed real talent for drawing," Wolpaw said.

At the age of 20 he moved to London, where he trained under a portrait artist. "Stuart was considered one of the best portrait painters in London," Wolpaw said.

"As an artist he was extraordinarily accomplished," he said. Practically speaking, however, he was often a failure, Wolpaw added.

Ironically, Stuart's problem was with money. Though he would make a lot, he would also spend it excessively. He was forced to leave London, with the creditors chasing him, Wolpaw said. Stuart then went to Dublin, where the same thing occurred.

Though "everyone wanted to get their portrait published by him," he was thrown in debtors prison in Dublin, Wolpaw said.

In the 1790's, Stuart returned to America, with his main reason being to paint George Washington. He actually painted him twice, with the second portrait on the dollar bill, according to Wolpaw.

Stuart made 130 copies during his lifetime, supporting himself with it. He also painted portraits of the first six presidents, as well as other politicians and important people of the time, Wolpaw said.

Stuart died in 1828 in Boston, leaving his impoverished family with 12 kids. Since they could not afford a tomb for Stuart, "he ended up being in someone else's family tomb," Wolpaw said.

When descendants had enough money to properly bury Stuart in Newport, they could not locate him. In Wolpaw's trailer for the film, a woman from the Boston Commons has difficulty locating him, using a humorous spin on it.

"It really is amazing that he's such a prominent American artist, but in a lot of ways he's kind of forgotten," Wolpaw said.

A Brown University graduate, Wolpaw has made several other documentaries. Most recently was Loaded Gun: Life, Death, and Dickinson, on Emily Dickinson. PBS aired the documentary last year.