Washington, D.C., artist Spencer Baird Nichols received the 1911 commission to replace the Andrew Stevenson portrait on paper previously in the House Collection. The original work, which had been acquired in 1880, was given to the Virginia state legislature. The bust-length portrait is similar in pose and composition to a lithograph by Thomas Fairland, also in the House Collection. The artist attended the Corcoran School of Art and was known as a muralist as well as an illustrator and portraitist.