Movement, Style, School or Type of Art:
Realism
Date and Place of Birth:
March 20, 1811, Augusta County, Virginia
Life:
Bingham, a child of the Western frontier and mostly self-taught artist, provided faithful glimpses of that life in his portraits of settlers and river men. He is best known for these, as well as his deft brushwork and clear, pure light and colors. In later years, his work took a political - and a bit stilted - tone, showing the entire rural election process and tackling a thorny issue which arose from the U.S. Civil War. He ended his days as a Professor of Art at the University of Missouri.
Important Works:
- John Quincy Adams, ca. 1844
- Fur Traders Descending the Missouri, 1845
- Landscape with Cattle, 1846
- Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers Through the Cumberland Gap, 1851
- Canvassing for a Vote, 1852
Date and Place of Death:
July 7, 1879, Kansas City, Missouri
Sources and Further Reading
- Bloch, E. Maurice. The Paintings of George Caleb Bingham: A Catalogue Raisonne.
Columbia : University of Missouri Press, 1986.
- Rash, Nancy. The Painting and Politics of George Caleb Bingham.
New Haven : Yale University Press, 1991.
- Shapiro, Michael Edward; Groseclose, Barbara and Johns, Elizabeth.
George Caleb Bingham.
Saint Louis Art Museum in association with Harry N. Abrams, 1990.
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