Gilbert Stuart, The Skater

Gilbert Stuart, The Skater (Portrait of William Grant), 1782, oil on canvas, 245.5 x 147.4 cm (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)
speakers: Dr. Bryan Zygmont and Dr. Beth Harris

[@Miskatonic-University]

This channel is a soothing oasis in the midst of daily chaos. Thank you for your great, calm narration and such beautiful images!

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Thank you for the lovely note.

[@0x_hackerfren]

Totally second this

[@juanpdp11]

You are right! It's not just the content, voices and love of art that Smarthistory transmits, but also the soothing effect!

[@oltedders]

I had never seen the portrait of Benjamin West before. It is absolutely superb! There is so much movement and life bound up in his pose. It looks like a still taken from a video. The play of light, color, and form is breathtaking.

[@martijnkeisers5900]

Nothing more beautiful than a Dutch winter landscape painting with people ice-skating on the canals.

[@paillette2010]

He was a Scottish lawyer, so I am thinking this was in the UK.

[@martijnkeisers5900]

@@paillette2010 I know, ☺️ Greetings from Amsterdam, the Netherlands!

[@paillette2010]

@@martijnkeisers5900 I was there in Feb of 1980, it was beautiful! :)

[@richsw]

One of the those paintings in which everything about it seems to be just perfect. I absolutely love it. Thank you for another outstanding video.

[@Sasha0927]

You guys are right on time for me today! My first impression of this was to laugh, I can't lie - bougiest and grumpiest-looking man on ice I've ever seen. The more detail I saw of his face and heard about his posture, the more I could appreciate the gracefulness of the man instead. As someone looking for a turning-point in my own career, I'm so happy to hear about Stuart making it (with West's blessing). What a guy West was! And what an achievement to become "the most accomplished portrait painter in the United States." That's just the encouragement I needed today. ❤

[@0x_hackerfren]

The production quailty of these videos is insane. I cant even begin to understand how you can turn them out as fast as yall do to such a high standard. For nearly 12 years no less. Truly, this channel stands as a monumental achievement

[@smarthistory-art-history]

We very much appreciate your note. We actually started to publish in 2005, the year KZbin was founded. We keep at it because of our wonderful audience and for all those students who just might fall in love with art history.

[@0x_hackerfren]

@smarthistoryvideos wow. Yall are real ones for sure.

[@zowyadoinbeb]

Excellent video. As always!

[@lysan1445]

I really love the explanations and backgrounds you present to us. I never thought so much could be seen in a picture.

[@paillette2010]

Frankly, I adore this portrait. Compared to the austere version on Wikipedia of Sir William Grant, this one enlivens him to a purpose, in this case the careful work of figures on ice. Perfectly marvelous.

[@deborahberger5816]

In my elementary school, the dollar-bill portrait of Washington hung in every classroom. We called it "George Washington Taking a Bubble Bath."

[@patfrat666]

Nice overview. Remember Gilbert Stuart.

[@random22026]

5:05 'Roman copy of a Greek original' (Say no more...)