Existing comment:
Fred W. Smith
The great "Lansdowne" portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart on loan to the National Portrait Gallery since 1968, was threatened with sale in 2000. But when Fred W. Smith, chair of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, learned in a news article and then on television that the nation might lose this founding portrait of the American presidency, he responded quickly. It was his desire that every school-aged child might have the opportunity to see the painting in person. Toward that goal, the Reynolds Foundation provided $30 million to purchase the portrait, tour it around the country, and place it in this presidential gallery, which the Smithsonian Regents have named in honor of Smith's patriotic vision. |