1. George Washington (Athenaeum) Painter: Gilbert Stuart Year: 1796 Stuart's painting is the exemplar for Washington's portrait on the dollar bill. It is thus arguably the most reproduced American painting of all times. Stuart was also concerned with the dollar himself. Recognizing the appeal of his Athenaeum portrait of Washington, he chose not to finish it. He devoted his time to making as many copies of it as possible, instead.

2. Washington Crossing the Delaware Painter: Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze Year: 1851 This depiction of George Washington's perilous Revolutionary War crossing before the Battle of Trenton might be the most famous American painting of all times.

3. Death of General Wolfe Painter: Benjamin West Year: 1770 The death of the British General James Wolfe during the Battle of Quebec of the Seven Years War is figured by West as if it is Christ-like. In this lamentation scene, Wolfe is surrounded during his last moments. The scene is given a uniquely American cast by the figure of the kneeling Native American who is seemingly lost in deep thought.

4. Watson and the Shark Painter: John Singleton Copley Year: 1778 Watson and the Shark was inspired by an event that took place in the harbor, Havana, Cuba. In 1749, fourteen-year-old Brook Watson was attacked by a shark while swimming in the harbor. His brave shipmates came to his rescue. Copley masterfully orchestrates all of the elements of the turbulent scene for maximum effect.

5. Dean Berkeley and his Entourage (aka the Bermuda Group) Painter: John Smibert Year: ca.1729-39 George Berkeley left London in 1729 to found a college in Bermuda; he and his entourage had their portrait made to commemorate their passage. The resulting painting is a conversation piece: Berkeley manages to simultaneously be well integrated in the group and set-off as a visionary.

6. Reverend John Atwood and His Family Painter: Henry F. Darby Year: 1845 The hyper-real appearance of the sitters in this painting might be an indication of the pressures of early photography on the practice of painting. Darby was only seventeen when he made this painting of Reverend Atwood and his family. The sitters' pious appearance – they read five bibles – is juxtaposed against the fashionable furnishings and lush textiles that surround them.

7. Gallery of the Louvre Year: 1831-33 Morse faithfully transcribed what he believed to be the best paintings at the Louvre before transporting it back to the United States for display. He hoped that this painting would expose Americans to the best of European painting. The exhibition of Morse's massive painting was a flop. Today, Morse is best remembered for his invention of the telegraph and Morse code, not his paintings.

8. The Veteran in a New Field Painter: Winslow Homer Year: 1865 In an evocation of the Grim Reaper this Civil War veteran, his jacket and canteen discarded in the foreground, reaps golden wheat in a field. The scythe is strapped to the veteran in the way that his gun would have been during wartime. The viewer is denied the opportunity to see the veteran's face as he cuts down wheat in its prime; it only enhances the somber undertones of the painting.

9. Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter's Mother Painter: James Abbott McNeill Whistler Year: 1871 This painting is referred to as an American icon or the “American Mona Lisa,” it is an emblem of motherhood and family values. Eschewing any sentimental value, Whistler pawned this painting shortly after creating it, and it eventually ended up in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

10. Portrait of the Artist's Mother Painter: Henry Ossawa Tanner Year: 1897 Tanner knew Whistler's painting and sought to pay homage to his mother in the same manner. He elevates the depiction of his own mother by humanizing her through gesture: one hand rests on her cheek; the other is dropped in her lap. The contemplative atmosphere is enhanced in the cool, moody palette.