President portrait valued at £5m

Portrait of George Washington Enlarge Image

A portrait of first American President George Washington by artist George Willson Peale is expected to fetch a record $10m (£5.7m) at auction.

The painting, signed and dated 1779, is one of eight full-length portraits of the American revolutionary by Peale, and the only one privately owned.

The record of $8.1m (£4.6m) for an American portrait was for a half-length Gilbert Stuart painting of Washington.

The Peale portrait is to be auctioned on Saturday by Christie's in New York.

It is part of a sale of American furniture and decorative arts collected by Natalie Knowlton Blair, who died in 1951. She and her husband bought the painting in 1919.

The collection is being sold by her grandson.

War of Independence

The full-length portrait of General Washington is one of eight painted by Peal between 1779 and 1781 during the American War of Independence against the British.

Peal was the most highly regarded portrait artist of the American revolutionary period.

The 8ft (2.4 metre) portrait celebrates victories at Trenton and Princeton and was sent to Spain by the artist soon after its completion.

It was intended to promote the American cause aboard and coincided with Spain's formal entry into the conflict.

During the war Washington was commander of the Continental Army, which, with the aid of the French, forced the British to surrender in 1781.

Ten years later, in 1789, he became the first American president.

John Hayes, of Christies, said the $10m estimate for the portrait was based on prices set in the past for half-length portraits.

"It's just an estimate though, we have no idea what it'll bring. I think that it could bring more," he said.