4. Stuart’s Portrait of George Washington

The painting of George Washington that is found on the modern one-dollar bill was done by Gilbert Stuart, a renowned painter who drew portraits of a number of kings and presidents. What is not well known is that the dollar bill painting of Washington was never completed. The painting, known as The Athenaeum, was intentionally left incomplete by Stuart so that he could hold onto it and easily draw copies, which he then sold for $100 a piece. Stuart is said to have painted as many as seventy reproductions of The Athenaeum, but he never finished the original before his death in 1828. For his part, Washington is said to have been particularly annoyed by Stuart’s behavior, and once even traveled to the artist’s studio and demanded to be given his portrait.