Walter Robertson

Walter and Charles Robertson were brothers, both miniaturists from Ireland. Walter went bankrupt as an artist working in London, and sailed for America in 1793 with his friend the artist Gilbert Stuart. Settling in Philadelphia, Robertson painted miniature copies of Stuarts portraits, along with his own original miniatures of George Washington. He is sometimes referred to as the Irish Robertson, to distinguish him from the Scottish miniaturists Archibald, Andrew, and Alexander Robertson. He left America after 1796 for India.

Text © Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2023