The Center for American Art and Portraiture used to be the US Patent Office Building before 1968. The building itself was built in 1836. The center features paintings, photographs and sculptures of famous Americans.

Gilbert Stuart painted this portrait in 1796, but never finished. The artist kept the unfinished paintings until his death, however, using the likeness of Washington as the basis for many subsequent portraits, which were painted to meet the steady demand for Washington's image.