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View of the North [Hudson] River (Morning).
William Winstanley; oil on canvas, 1793. The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association Collections, Purchase, 1940 [W-1179].
George Washington purchased several large-scale landscapes during his lifetime, including a pair by English-born artist, William Winstanley. Washington paid Winstanley 30 guineas or $140 for the two paintings on April 6, 1793. In a letter written at Philadelphia three days later, Alexander Hamilton commented on seeing the canvases in an upstairs room of the president's house, "There are two views of situations on Hudson's River painted by Mr Winstanly (sic), in the drawing Room of Mrs. Washington, which have great intrinsic merit…" In both images, the idyllic subject matter and picturesque composition take precedence over capturing precise location details.
After his presidency ended, George Washington displayed both paintings in Mount Vernon's New Room. Martha Washington's grandson, George Washington Parke Custis (1781-1857) purchased the pair at the estate sale held on July 20, 1802, after her death. He took the paintings to Arlington House, Arlington, Virginia, where they descended in the Custis and Lee families.
