The planned Crystal Bridges museum, financed by heirs of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, has added a piece of Americana to its collection: a 1797 portrait of George Washington by painter Gilbert Stuart.

But because the museum isn't set to open in Bentonville until fall 2009, Crystal Bridges is loaning the work to the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, where it will be on view until next year.

Crystal Bridges bought the painting at auction from the New York Public Library last year, but didn't announced the purchase until yesterday. According to news reports from Nov. 30, the portrait sold at Sotheby's for $8.1 million to an anonymous bidder.

The portrait was commissioned by New York City merchant William Kerin Constable as a gift to Alexander Hamilton,who served as Secretary of the Treasury during Washington's first termas president. In 1896, the portrait was given to the New York PublicLibrary, which retained it until Crystal Bridges bought it at auction.

The 50-by-40-inch portrait shows Washington formally posed in a gilt armchair. The painting is known as George Washington (The Constable-Hamilton Portrait).

"Collaborating with other institutions will be an importantfocus of Crystal Bridges, even before we open," Crystal Bridges'executive director, Bob Workman, said in a statement. "We are delighted to share George Washington (The Constable-Hamilton Portrait)with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, as this piece brings to life ina compelling way a significant time in our country's history,"

Last year, Wal-Mart heir Alice Walton announced she had bought 14 paintings for the museum's permanent collection. Among the acquisitions are works by Winslow Homer, Martin Johnson Heade and Asher B. Durand's painting Kindred Spirits, for which Walton paid a reported $35 million.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press