George Caleb Bingham
American
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.
Born
1811
Died
1879
Why engage in political dialogue?
This picture was painted soon after Bingham was elected a congressman for Missouri. Here we see American democracy in action. Seated near a stove, a young politician attempts to enlist the support of an older rural farmer, while a businessman—perhaps a local political powerbroker—listens attentively. Bingham’s subject would have resonated with his fellow Missourians, who participated in the intense debates about slavery that dominated American politics prior to the Civil War.
Medium
Oil on canvas
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd
Item ID
1979.7.16
Dimensions
20 3/8 x 24 in. (51.8 x 61 cm)
Date
1849
Country
\ Also in this gallery
Recreation
Jerome Thompson (1857)
Justice
David Gilmour Blythe (ca. 1860)
View of Mount Vernon
Joachim Ferdinand Richardt (1858)
Moses, The Baltimore…
Thomas Waterman Wood (1858)
The Trial of John Brown
Horace Pippin (1942)
Boatmen on the Missouri
George Caleb Bingham (1846)
Artist name
George Caleb Bingham
Artwork location