New York Welcomes a National Hero, 1789

Series TitleThe Bicentennial Pageant of George Washington

Artist Robert Lawson (American, 1892 - 1957)

Date1932

MediumEtching on paper

DimensionsOverall: 9 15/16 × 14 7/8 inches (25.22 × 37.77 cm)

Credit LineGift of John Henry Smith

Object number36-17/3

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The George Washington Memorial Association commissioned this etching for a portfolio in honor of the bicentennial of Washington’s birth. It depicts the triumphal entry into New York of our nation’s first president-elect. Washington had hoped for a subdued arrival in the city where his inauguration would take place, but he got the opposite. On April 23, 1789, a fleet of boats specially decorated for the occasion accompanied his barge across Newark Bay to Manhattan. In Robert Lawson’s congested recreation of the historic event, the man of the hour would be lost in the celebration were it not for his halo-like aura.

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