This is part of our weekly series, Lost Masterpieces, about the greatest buildings and works of art that were destroyed or never completed.

It was the commission of a lifetime—an invitation from the president himself to visit his vacation home for a long weekend to paint a life-sized portrait that would be displayed for all to see. It wasn’t the first time Elizabeth Shoumatoff had raised her brush to capture the likeness of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but it would be the most prestigious.

Little did the publicity-shy artist know that this commission would never be completed and would ultimately place her in the spotlight of history.