Introducing George Stuart, artist historian and entertaining lecturer.

Artist, Historian, Entertainer

For more than fifty years George S. Stuart has been capturing the essence of history's most famous and infamous personalities. Rarely have art and history been melded so exactly in works of such breathtaking realism. See also this recent magazine article (pdf).

To date, he has created more than four hundred Historical Figures that have been exhibited in the Smithsonian and private collections. For more about Mr. Stuart and the Historical Figures, see the book and DVDs in the Shoppe .

The Studio

In his Ojai, California studio Mr. Stuart continues to model Historical Figures in mixed media. At quarter life size, his portraits are closer to figurative art are often mistakenly called miniatures, figurines – or worse, dolls. Mr. Stuart is also very active in preservation and restoration of existing Figures.

Modeling a Historical Figure

Research

Once a subject is selected for an Historical Figure, George Stuart carefully studies the personality, contemporary texts, paintings drawings, anatomy references, even autopsy reports.

Planning

With the Historical Figure and its times understood, Stuart sketches how to best represent the Figure - clothing, position and demeanor. Accessories such as jewels, and weapons are selected and designed.

Skeleton

Figures are made of mixed media. Modeling begins with an articulated skeleton of iron wire sized to the best anatomical data. Heights can vary from Queen Victoria less than 5 feet tall to Abe Lincoln at nearly 6 ½ ft.

Bones and Muscle

The wire skeleton is carefully wrapped in clay tape to form bones. Cotton is added and modeled to form the muscles and shape.

Skin

Next a "skin" is sewn of felt and the Figure is covered. Muscles are articulated with needle and thread.

Hands

The hands are carefully sized and shaped in wire, often to hold objects or to portray a gesture. The final hands and feet are then sculpted in modeling material.