SHELBURNE, Vt. (August 12, 2026)—Shelburne Museum has announced the acquisition of an important Revolutionary War-era portrait of William Seton by celebrated American artist Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828), further strengthening the museum’s distinguished collection of American art.
 
William Seton (1746–1798) was a Scottish-born merchant and financier who emigrated to New York in 1763. A Loyalist during the American Revolution, Seton served as the last Royal Public Notary for the City and Province of New York. After the war, he played a key role in strengthening political and financial ties between North America and France during the nation’s formative years. Painted between 1793 and 1798, this portrait was generously gifted to Shelburne Museum this year from the estate of Mary Seton Abele (1938-2025), the great-great-great-granddaughter of William Seton.
 
Gilbert Stuart, who shared Seton’s Scottish heritage, likely became acquainted with him shortly after returning to the United States in 1793. The portrait was probably painted during Stuart’s brief residence in New York, between his arrival in the city and Seton’s death in 1798.

“Electra Havemeyer Webb would have been thrilled about this acquisition. Gilbert Stuart is an iconic figure in the history of American painting, and this likeness of William Seton serves as a meaningful foil for paintings in our collection like John Singleton Copley’s portrait of John Scollay, one of the Sons of Liberty in Revolutionary-era Boston,” said Katie Wood Kirchhoff, Shelburne Museum’s Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen Curator of American Decorative Arts.

Gilbert Stuart is widely regarded as one of America’s greatest portrait painters and the artist who established a distinctly American style of portraiture. Born in Newport, Rhode Island, Stuart trained under Benjamin West in London before building a successful career in England and Ireland. After returning to the United States in 1793, he became the nation’s leading portrait artist, painting nearly 1,000 portraits over his lifetime. He is best known for his unfinished 1796 “Athenaeum” portrait of George Washington, the image that appears on the U.S. one-dollar bill. Renowned for his expressive brushwork, luminous color, and psychological depth, Stuart’s work profoundly influenced generations of American artists.
 
The portrait is on view in Shelburne Museum’s Webb Gallery, which features objects that illuminate the people, ideas, and events that have shaped the United States over the past 250 years. Seton’s portrait hangs opposite John Singleton Copley’s portrait of John Scollay, a prominent Boston civic leader and Son of Liberty, creating a compelling dialogue between two men whose lives reflected opposing allegiances during the nation’s founding era.
 
High-resolution image available HERE.

PDF version of press release available HERE. 
 
Image caption: Gilbert Stuart, William Seton, ca. 1793–98. Oil on canvas, 36 x 28 1/4 in. Collection of Shelburne Museum, gift of Mary Seton Abele. 2026-9. Photography by Andy Duback.

About Shelburne Museum
Founded in 1947 by trailblazing folk art collector Electra Havemeyer Webb (1888–1960), Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont, is the largest art and history museum in northern New England and Vermont’s foremost public resource for visual art and material culture. The Museum’s 45-acre campus is comprised of 39 buildings including the Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education and Webb Gallery featuring important American paintings by Andrew Wyeth, Winslow Homer, Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses, John Singleton Copley and many more. Construction is underway for the Perry Center for Native American Art, designed in partnership with Indigenous voices and devoted to the stewardship and exhibition of the Native American art in the museum’s care, scheduled to open in 2027. For more information, please visit shelburnemuseum.org.   
                                                                            
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Leslie Wright
Director of Marketing and Communications
Shelburne Museum
lwright@shelburnemuseum.org
802-985-0880
 
Kristen Levesque
Kristen Levesque Public Relations
kristen@kristenlevesquepr.com
207-329-3090