An exhibition of Missouri’s artist ends its journey at the MET.
Next to Thomas Hart Benton, George Caleb Bingham is probably the best-known artist of Missouri and the first major American painter to be based west of the Mississippi. He was born in 1811 in Virginia and moved to Boon’s Lick, Mo., as a young boy.
Even as a child, Bingham was fascinated by rivers and all the activity on them. A traveling exhibition, “Navigating the West: George Caleb Bingham & the River” chronicles where this fascination led, during a time when rivers played a critical role in the economic and cultural development of America.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is the current and final venue for the show—the first major exhibition of Bingham’s work in more than 25 years.
Sixteen paintings and more than 40 drawings depicting life on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers are the backbone of the exhibition, which made earlier stops in Fort Worth and St. Louis. Bingham’s images of boatmen transporting cargo or relaxing with comrades are recurrent themes.
Although his mother supported Bingham’s desire to become an artist, formal training was not available to him. He managed to teach himself by studying manuals and the paintings of other artists.
Bingham began his career as an itinerant portrait painter, based in St. Louis. He also worked briefly in Washington, D.C., but by 1844, decided to return to Missouri where his re-focused his energies to painting many of the iconic pictures of river subjects and frontier politicians for which he is so well known.
Although Bingham is best remembered as an artist, he was always interested in politics and held numerous public offices while continuing to paint. During the Civil War, he was appointed the State Treasurer of Missouri. Later, he would serve as president of the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners and also as the Chief of Police. Bingham’s appointment as the first professor in the art department at the University of Missouri at Columbia lasted only two years as he died in 1879.
Perhaps Bingham’s most recognizable work is The Jolly Flatboatmen of 1846. Approximately 10,000 engravings of the joyous dancer entertaining his river companions were distributed to the subscribers of the American Art-Union; the widespread appeal of the composition established an East Coast audience for the artist. Another masterpiece of this exhibition is Fur Traders Descending the Missouri. Here the misty, mysterious allure of the river has been enhanced by the artist’s use of thinly applied transparent layers of paint. The solidly rendered figures stand out in sharp contrast to their atmospheric surroundings.
It is remarkable to see so many preparatory drawings together with the final products. The artist was able to develop a number of frontier character “types” in his drawings and he gave them aptly descriptive titles as well: dandy, good listener, weary traveler, slick character. These Western archetypes were endlessly appealing to his Eastern admirers.
Bingham’s usual modus operandi was to trace a drawing onto the prepared surface of the canvas to use as his starting point. Infrared technology enabled the curators to make an in-depth study of the underdrawings and note any subsequent changes that were made. In Fur Traders Descending the Missouri, for example, it was evident that superfluous details had been eliminated, resulting in a simplified yet mesmerizing composition.
A note about the lenders: The drawings on view are for the most part from the former holdings of John How, mayor of St. Louis from 1844-6 and 1856-7. He donated his entire collection of 112 Bingham drawings to the Mercantile Library in St. Louis in 1868. They remained unseen until 1974 when the public learned that they were to be sold in order to underwrite some renovations for the library. Governor Kit Bond spearheaded a campaign to raise the funds to buy the works from the library so that they would not be dispersed. A statewide traveling exhibition was organized; Bingham’s identity as “Missouri’s artist” and his role as a politician were touted. Even Thomas Hart Benton got involved as the honorary chairman of the campaign and fundraiser host. Schoolchildren from all over the state challenged adults by contributing over $40,000 in small change towards the purchase. There were numerous corporate donations, individual contributions, and a government grant in addition to funds generated from the exhibition catalogue and ticket sales. As a result, enough money was procured to buy the works with a surplus fund to conserve them. A Bingham Trust was established for the people of Missouri so that the collection may never be separated or sold, and when exhibited, the credit line is “Lent by the People of Missouri.”
“Navigating the West: George Caleb Bingham & the River” continues through Sept. 20 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
