So, some years ago, it must have been in Washington, D.C. at an exhibit of the glorious work of Jean-Antoine Houdon (20 March 1741 ~ 15 July 1828) http://www.artcyclopedia.com/feature-2003-06.html I saw his bust of Robert Fulton. If you click on this link, you can see it, too. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.lib-art.com/imgpainting/5/0/3605-robert-fulton-jean-antoine-houdon.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.lib-art.com/art-prints/hubert-robert.html&usg=__2djzigJLg-3qU10dPVbgSIcXmP4=&h=1276&w=900&sz=106&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=ai9kcpU1d1rtMM:&tbnh=138&tbnw=80&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhoudon%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DX%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1303%26bih%3D614%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=740&vpy=79&dur=4492&hovh=267&hovw=188&tx=98&ty=125&ei=TBbgTO-8NIK8lQfpoZyXDQ&oei=TBbgTO-8NIK8lQfpoZyXDQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=29&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0

Being a fan of early 19th century costume & aving been a sometime sculptor myself, I was knocked out by the intricacies of collar & cravat & lapels, the strength and delicacy of Fulton's features. Having written and illustrated The Amazing Impossible Erie Canal, I knew of Fulton's successful experiment with steam navigation on the Hudson River, in the summer of 1807. http://www.kiacusa.com/clermont.html But I hadn't known that Robt. Fulton was, in addition to being an inventor, a civil and mechanical engineer, he had been an apprentice in the studio of the painter Benjamin West (10 October 1738 ~ 11 March 1820) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_West (10 October 1738 ~ 11 March 1820). He supported himself in his studies by painting many a portrait, many a landscape. Oh yes, and it was on this day that this remarkable American was born, in 1765, in Pennsylvania.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Fulton

According to the wikibots, "Quicksilver Bob" Fulton (not the niftyest nickname I've ever heard, but pretty fine) shares a birthday with another artist, the great, glad-eyed, light-loving, nimble-fingered Claude Monet (1840), Felix's sister & fellow composer Fanny Mendelssohn (1805), Charles, Prince of Wales, King-in-Waiting (1948), and Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower (1896). If you happen to go to Ike's Presidential Museum in Abilene, Kansas, you might well see exhibited a tiny, lacy dress that she once wore...