A portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, commissioned by President James Madison, will be featured during Christie’s Americana Week auctions in January. The oil-on-canvas painting will be offered as part of “We the People: America at 250,” with an estimate of $500,000 to $1 million. The sale will take place on January 23, 2026.
Painted by Stuart, the most prolific portraitist of Washington, the work belongs to a group of approximately 75 portraits in this pose that were produced around 1796. Madison commissioned the painting in 1804, though the artist did not complete it until 1811, reflecting Stuart’s often-delayed working process and his habit of revisiting popular compositions. Washington was known to dislike long portrait sittings, which is why Stuart relied on repeatable formats. Made in the “Athenaeum type” format, the work inspired Washington’s likeness on the one-dollar bill.
At first, the painting’s origins were thought to be dubious; however, Martha Willoughby, a specialist consultant in Christie’s Americana department, told Artnet News that the auction house found a letter from Madison’s secretary confirming its provenance.
The portrait remained with Madison and his family before passing through several prominent American collections, including those of industrialist James W. Ellsworth, art collector William K. Bixby, and Richard L. Clarkson. In 1951, the portrait entered Clarkson University’s collection in New York, where it was stolen by a group of students, though it was recovered after their arrest.
In addition to Washington, Stuart painted other leading figures of the early American republic, including Presidents John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and Madison. In January 2024, Stuart’s George Washington (Vaughn type) (1795), another portrait of Washington, was sold for $2.83 million at Christie’s.
The Washington portrait is just one of the highlights of the auction house’s Americana Week, which will comprise nine auctions and approximately 700 lots, running from January 13 to 28, 2026. Other lots include a broadside printing of the Declaration of Independence produced in July 1776, estimated at $3 million–$5 million, and the Steve Jobs–signed contract that founded the Apple Computer Company, estimated at $2 million–$4 million.
