George Caleb Bingham Biography

Bingham was primarily a self-taught artist. He studied the old masters, probably from prints, and sketched animals, his neighbors, and his immediate surroundings. At different points in his life, however, Bingham sought deeper instruction in art. For about six months in 1838, Bingham carefully studied portraits and genre paintings at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. He returned to the Academy in the summer of 1843 for further study.

In 1856 Bingham traveled with his wife, Eliza, and daughter, Clara, to Europe. He first spent time in Paris and then went on to Dusseldorf, Germany, a famous art center at the time. Bingham lived there happily until he was called back to Missouri in 1859. He had a studio, stimulating artist friends, and a commission from the Missouri state legislature. Bingham completed his full-length portraits of Washington and Jefferson while in Germany.

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