You’ve never seen George Washington quite like this. Rendered in crisp pen and ink on cream-colored paper, America’s first president gazes above the viewer with astonishingly blue eyes, wearing the look of someone who’s seen the future and has some concerns. Gilbert Stuart, eat your heart out.
Artist Sal Catalano, who taught illustration at FIT for more than 40 years, drew Washington and all 44 other presidents for a project celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. “I did Washington first,” he says. “He was a general’s general. There was nobody like him before or since.”
The collection was exhibited at the world headquarters of Goldman Sachs in New York over the summer, and moved to the People’s House in Washington, D.C., for early fall, presented by the White House Historical Association. ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl featured several of the images on his Instagram feed, where they racked up thousands of likes.
Now the series is a book, published with support from the Elizabeth Carolyn Lux Foundation. “It was a labor of love,” says Catalano, who over his storied career has worked for dozens of outlets including The New York Times and The New Yorker, and illustrated more than 30 children’s books. (In 2024, he retired from FIT.) He hopes the portraits bring history to life. “When you see the presidents on stamps or dollar bills, they’re staid and boring. But American history isn’t boring.”
He began the series in 2019, and consulted multiple visual sources—paintings for the earlier presidents; photos and video for more recent subjects. Each illustration incorporates a quote by the subject, chosen by Catalano. “Where the press is free, all is safe” features in Jefferson’s portrait. “What Jefferson said is very applicable for journalism today, which is being censored.”
The book is also a reflection of Catalano’s distinct style, honed during his years at FIT: “A kid once asked, ‘How do you start a portrait?’ I said, ‘I don’t know. Next time I start I’ll study the process for you.’ It turns out, I start with the right eye, then I go to the left. Then I move down the nose. John Singer Sargent said, ‘A portrait is a picture of somebody with something wrong around the mouth.’ And he was right! The difference from the nose to the upper lip is always wrong.”
Given the subject matter, does Catalano consider himself patriotic? “I see myself as more patriotic than most,” he says. “I’m a first generation American, and I wouldn’t be an artist if I weren’t living in America. I draw pictures and they give me money. It makes me so happy.”
Catalano’s book is for sale at the White House History Shop.