Washington Winter Show 2020

46 Icons of America WASHINGTON AND BEYOND Selections from the Winterthur Collection M any modern icons—from Mickey Mouse and Elvis Presley to the Empire State Building—represent America to people living all over today’s world. The same is true of icons whose origins date much earlier, back to the late 1700s when the young United States fought for and gained its independence. At that time, national symbols permeated everyday life. Affordable portraits of Revolutionary War heroes and politicians were reproduced in prints, as well as book and newspaper illustrations. Patriotic imagery was also carved into furniture or created as ornament on dinner and beverage ware or other furnishings. When Winterthur founder Henry Francis du Pont decided in the 1920s to shift his collecting interest to American- made and American-market wares, he focused on the central figures in the nation’s early history. He avidly acquired paintings, prints, and objects associated with our Founding Fathers. At the top of his list and that of many wealthy collectors of his time were items that portrayed George Washington or that once belonged to him. During the late 1700s, long before du Pont’s time, wealthy consumers commissioned paintings of important people or events to hang on the walls of their homes, and imagery portraying by LESLIE B. GRIGSBY Fig. 1: Washington at Verplanck’s Point. John Trumbull, New York, 1790. Oil on canvas. Gift of Henry Francis du Pont 1964.2201a.