On Desperate Seas

This is Flexner's portrait of Gilbert Stuart, painter of George Washington, and other founding fathers, who once shied away from a self-portrait he had begun to please his bride. Flexner presents us with a portrait constructed as the artist would have constructed it, frank, without flattery, profound, and soul-stirring. A man once regarded as the probable successor of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Stuart was born in poverty in Rhode Island. He became through his art the intimate of the great of two continents. Yet, he never abandoned his disdain for worldly rank, or his fascination with character. He made huge sums in England but spent even more in dissipation. Prison yawned for him, and he fled his creditors. During his thirty-five American years, he painted with brilliance, creating a unique portrait manner. His rank as an artist was never questioned, but his nerves would not quiet. He drank, fought with his wife, and tortured his children. Stuart died as he lived: famous and bankrupt.