George Caleb Bingham
Perhaps no other genre painter better typifies the idealization of the American frontier than George Caleb Bingham. Growing up in St. Louis, Bingham was almost entirely self-taught, except for a brief time spent as an art student in Philadelphia. Best known for his depictions of frontiersmen and fur traders on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, Bingham often created scenes that can best be described as those of fraternal communities at the periphery of western civilization.
What are the benefits and detriments of working independently?
In the 19th century, major rivers served as interstate highways for steamboats carrying passengers and cargo. These vessels were refueled by “woodhawks,” men in small boats loaded with firewood. Bingham’s painting presents these boatmen as mediators between nature and civilization. His idealized depictions of boatmen as free laborers may have reflected his opposition to slavery and its extension into the western states.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd
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