George Washington
Subtitle: American symbol
By: Barbara J. Mitnick, general editor ; essays by William Ayres ... [et al.].
Contributors: Mitnick, Barbara J.; Ayres, William S.; Museums at Stony Brook.; Brandywine River Museum.; Scottish Rite Masonic Museum of Our National Heritage.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Hudson Hills Press in association with the Museums at Stony Brook and the Museum of Our National Heritage; Distributed in the U.S. ... by National Book Network
Published: 1999
Place of publication: New York; [Lanham, Md.]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 162
Subjects: Washington, George, 1732-1799 -- Portraits -- Exhibitions.; Presidents -- United States -- Portraits -- Exhibitions.
Description: George Washington is universally considered to be our most accomplished president, the perfect merger of military hero, effective administrator, and great leader. In honor of the 200th anniversary of his death, and in conjunction with a major traveling exhibition, this beautiful volume presents the many manifestations of Washington the national icon, for his image is the one we have continually turned to during virtually every period of our history for both inspiration and marketing clout.

It is also an image that has resisted fundamental revision over the course of two centuries because of the force of Washington's character, the clarity of his political purposes, and the intensity of his charisma.

Here are fine art portraits, both paintings and sculpture, ranging from a number for which Washington actually sat to postmodern images of our own time that gleefully deconstruct the icon. Here are objects of mass distribution on which our first president appears, from glass flasks, tableware, a porcelain vase, and a jacquard coverlet, to calendar illustrations, prints for framing, and the ubiquitous dollar bill.

Spanning more than two centuries, these items tell us as much about the changes in American society as they do about the man portrayed.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 153-156) and index.
"Published in conjunction with an exhibition seen at the Museums at Stony Brook, New York, February 6-May 31, 1999; at the Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, June 11-September 6, 1999; and at the Museum of Our National Heritage, Lexington, Massachusetts, October 10, 1999-February 27, 2000"--T.p. verso.