Gilbert Stuart, (painter), American, 1755 - 1828, The Skater (Portrait of William Grant), 1782, oil on canvas, overall: 245.5 x 147.4 cm (96 5/8 x 58 1/16 in.), framed: 274.3 x 177.2 x 9.5 cm (108 x 69 3/4 x 3 3/4 in.), In 1775, Gilbert Stuart set sail for London where Benjamin West welcomed the destitute young man into his home. The Skater marks the end of his five-year apprenticeship to West. Stuart's first effort at full-length portraiture, its originality brought the artist so much notice at the 1782 Royal Academy exhibition that he soon set up his own studio..