Jane Stuart dressed in a gorilla costume, from the NHS collections.
One of the more colorful people in 19th century Newport was Jane Stuart (1812-1888), portraitist and youngest daughter of artist Gilbert Stuart. With limited means in Boston, Jane supported herself by completing her father’s unfinished portraits while studying art under her brother Charles and other instructors. She moved to Newport in 1862 and permanently settled at 86 Mill Street. Financially strapped, she struggled to maintain an air of dignity among the trappings of Newport’s Gilded Age by painting and exhibiting her father’s works to by- passers. All the while, she was brilliant, witty, playful, loved charades and dressing in costume.