George Caleb Bingham (1811 - 1879)

Introduction

George Caleb Bingham was a Missouri artist and politician. During his lifetime, he was known as “the Missouri Artist.” Painting his most significant pieces between 1845 and 1860, Bingham produced many remarkable drawings, portraits, landscapes, and scenes of social and political life on the frontier. He was also active in civic affairs and contributed to the political life of Missouri before and after the Civil War.

Early Years

Mountain scene in western Virginia This nineteenth-century engraving of a mountain scene in western Virginia gives a sense of the landscape surrounding Bingham when he was a child living in Augusta County, Virginia.

[Harper’s Pictorial History, 1866]

George Caleb Bingham was born on March 20, 1811, in Augusta County, Virginia. He was the second of seven children born to Henry Vest and Mary Amend Bingham. Living on a large farm, George showed a strong interest in drawing at an early age. He supposedly drew on the sides of barns, fence posts, and the walls of the family mill. When George was seven, his father lost most of the family’s property to cover a friend’s debts. Homeless, George left Virginia with his parents, five siblings, his grandfather Matthias Amend, and their slaves. They headed to Missouri to build a new life.

Settling in Missouri

Arrow Rock, Missouri

Map showing part of Missouri Territory, including Cooper and Howard counties, Fort Osage and area rivers, 1820.

[SHS 023779]

Arrow Rock tavern

[SHS 2004-004-15]

Stump Speaking, 1856.

[SHS Art Collection, 1972.0003]

George Bingham’s family settled in Franklin, a village on the banks of the Missouri River. It was the summer of 1819 and his parents were quick to contribute to their new community. His father opened an inn called the Square and Compass. He also started a tobacco factory, bought farmland, and became a civic leader. Bingham’s mother was an educated woman and soon started a school for girls, one of the first west of the Mississippi River.

Chester Harding Chester Harding (1792 – 1866).

From A Sketch of Chester Harding, Artist: Drawn by His Own Hand. Ed. Margaret E. White. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1929. REF 921 H219s

When George was nine, a painter named Chester Harding came to Franklin and stayed at their inn. Harding was finishing a portrait of Daniel Boone. George became Harding’s helper. He stood at Harding’s side and watched him paint the famous pioneer’s portrait. By observing closely, George learned the basics of portrait painting.

Frontier schoolhouse An early schoolhouse on the frontier, c. 1820s.

[SHS 001750]

In late 1823, life changed once again for George. His father died of malaria, and his mother was left with many unpaid bills. She had to give up their Franklin home and properties and move her family across the river to the Bingham farm in Saline County. Here, near the village of Arrow Rock, she raised her artistic son and his siblings. She continued to run her school and employed an art teacher, Mattie Wood, who also gave George art lessons. When George was not studying, he helped his mother on their farm and at the school.

Becoming an Artist

A woodworking shop Bingham apprenticed with a cabinetmaker named Justinian Williams in Boonville. He probably worked with planes and measuring tools as shown in this early American woodworking shop.

[SHS 005640]

In 1827 sixteen-year-old George Caleb Bingham left Arrow Rock to learn a trade in Boonville, Missouri. He worked for a cabinetmaker who was also a preacher. Bingham liked talking about religious and political issues and soon gained experience as both a preacher and a lawyer. He also started painting portraits. In the days before photography, many people were eager to have likenesses of loved ones. Bingham began painting his friends’ faces. They admired his work, and soon Bingham felt confident enough to travel to other towns in Missouri and paint portraits of citizens who could afford to pay him. By 1833 Bingham was earning his living as a portrait painter.

Early portrait by Bingham Bingham painted this portrait of Thomas Miller in 1837. The portrait reflects Bingham’s early portrait style, evident in examples from 1834 to 1840.

[SHS Art Collection, 1961.0001]

In 1834, while painting in Columbia, Bingham met James S. Rollins, an attorney and politician. The two formed a close and long-lasting friendship. Rollins often gave Bingham advice and financial support. Bingham’s letters

A four-page letter from Bingham to Rollins, dated November 7, 1853, and sent from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (p. 1).

In the letter shown, George Caleb Bingham discusses his work on the genre paintings County Election and County Canvass. He also mentions future projects on Missouri subjects and news from home. The State Historical Society, Manuscript Collection-Columbia contains roughly 100 letters from Bingham to Rollins dating from 1837 to 1879.

Click to see a transcription of the Bingham letter by C.B. Rollins, son of James S. Rollins.

[ James S. Rollins Papers, 1546-1968 (C1026) , The State Historical Society of Missouri, Manuscript Collection-Columbia]

A four-page letter from Bingham to Rollins, dated November 7, 1853, and sent from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (p. 2).

In the letter shown, George Caleb Bingham discusses his work on the genre paintings County Election and County Canvass. He also mentions future projects on Missouri subjects and news from home. The State Historical Society, Manuscript Collection-Columbia contains roughly 100 letters from Bingham to Rollins dating from 1837 to 1879.

Click to see a transcription of the Bingham letter by C.B. Rollins, son of James S. Rollins.

[ James S. Rollins Papers, 1546-1968 (C1026) , The State Historical Society of Missouri, Manuscript Collection-Columbia]

A four-page letter from Bingham to Rollins, dated November 7, 1853, and sent from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (p. 3).

In the letter shown, George Caleb Bingham discusses his work on the genre paintings County Election and County Canvass. He also mentions future projects on Missouri subjects and news from home. The State Historical Society, Manuscript Collection-Columbia contains roughly 100 letters from Bingham to Rollins dating from 1837 to 1879.

Click to see a transcription of the Bingham letter by C.B. Rollins, son of James S. Rollins.

[ James S. Rollins Papers, 1546-1968 (C1026) , The State Historical Society of Missouri, Manuscript Collection-Columbia]

A four-page letter from Bingham to Rollins, dated November 7, 1853, and sent from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (p. 4).

In the letter shown, George Caleb Bingham discusses his work on the genre paintings County Election and County Canvass. He also mentions future projects on Missouri subjects and news from home. The State Historical Society, Manuscript Collection-Columbia contains roughly 100 letters from Bingham to Rollins dating from 1837 to 1879.

Click to see a transcription of the Bingham letter by C.B. Rollins, son of James S. Rollins.

[ James S. Rollins Papers, 1546-1968 (C1026) , The State Historical Society of Missouri, Manuscript Collection-Columbia]

to Rollins reveal much about their relationship as well as Bingham’s life as a painter and politician.

Bingham house in Arrow Rock

According to a National Register of Historic Places Inventory provided by the Department of Natural Resources, the “George Caleb Bingham House was built by the famous painter in 1837 soon after his marriage to Sarah Hutchison. It remained their home until 1845.

It is believed that before 1870 the new owners of the home built additions which converted it into a two-story, eight-room structure. Other alterations were made through the years.

In 1926 Hugh Stephens, [of] Jefferson City, purchased the house with the intent of preserving it. The State bought the home in 1934 and restored it in 1936 with the assistance of the Works Progress Administration. At this time the frame rooms of the first and second stories were removed leaving a one-story two-room brick structure. A new roof was added, the picket fence was retained and the bricks were painted white.

After thorough archaeological investigation and careful planning, the home was again restored by the Missouri State Park Board in 1964-65. Documentary and archaeological information did not determine the exact appearance of the house as built by Bingham. It was restored as a typical small Federal-style home of the 1830's.”

[SHS 028748]

Before long, Bingham craved more instruction

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.

in art. In 1838 he traveled east to study the canvases of other artists. Bingham was impressed especially by the genre paintings he saw. These paintings showed scenes from everyday life. After studying in Philadelphia and making art contacts in New York City, Bingham returned to Missouri with more artistic skill and some new ideas about what he could paint.

Painting Frontier Life

Watching the Cargo Watching the Cargo, 1849.

Bingham submitted his genre painting Watching the Cargo to the American Art-Union in New York City for sale on August 1, 1849. It was exhibited there and purchased by the Union, which awarded the painting to Stephen E. Paine of New York at the Union’s annual meeting in December 1849.

[The State Historical Society of Missouri, Art Collection (1927.0001)]

Growing up along the Missouri River, Bingham had vivid mental pictures of life on the river. He knew the people and their occupations firsthand. In 1845 Bingham turned to this subject matter and began an important and productive period of his artistic career. While he still traveled extensively, painting portraits to support his family,

Sarah Elizabeth Hutchinson and son Newton.

George Caleb Bingham married three times and had six children; only two of his children outlived him. Bingham’s first wife was Sarah Elizabeth Hutchinson (1819-1848), whom he married in September 1836. Together they had five children: Isaac Newton (1837-1841), Nathaniel (1840), Horace (1841-1869), Clara (1844-1901), and Joseph Hutchinson (1848).

After Elizabeth died in 1848, Bingham married Eliza Thomas (1828-1876) of Columbia on December 3, 1849. Together they had one son, James Rollins (1861-1910), whom they named after the artist’s friend.

Not long after Eliza’s death in 1876, Bingham married Mattie Livingston Lykins (1824-1890), a widow and family friend from Kansas City. They married on June 18, 1878.

[SHS 006821]

Eliza Thomas Bingham.

[SHS 006821]

James Rollins Bingham, around 1870.

[SHS 015557]

The Thread of Life

Bingham used family members as subjects for various paintings throughout his career. One painting in particular, The Thread of Life, was probably made for Bingham’s second wife, Eliza Thomas Bingham. It was owned by descendants of her family until 1980. The painting represents a female figure sitting on a cloud and holding an infant. Beside the woman is a spindle from which the child draws a thread. This thread dangles below the baby and disappears behind the legs of the adult figure. In 1917 Fern Helen Rusk proposed that the painting commemorated the birth of James Rollins Bingham, the artist’s only child by Eliza.

Letters held at the State Historical Society indicate that Eliza Bingham experienced physical difficulty having children. This picture of a symbolic figure—perhaps Fate—supporting a child who is clutching “the thread of life” may not only celebrate James Rollins’s birth. It may also acknowledge and honor the children Eliza had hoped to have.

Bingham paintings seldom come on the market, and when this exceptional picture became available, the State Historical Society was eager to bring it back to Missouri. Paintings by George Caleb Bingham form the foundation of the art collection at The State Historical Society of Missouri. With the acquisition in 2006 of The Thread of Life, the Society was able to enrich its collection of Bingham genre paintings and portraits with a personal picture painted for the artist’s family.

[SHS Art Collection]

Bingham started painting genre scenes that showed life on the frontier. When he shipped four of these paintings

In 1845 Bingham shipped four paintings, including Fur Traders Descending the Missouri, to the American Art-Union in New York. The others were entitled Cottage Scenery, Landscape, and The Concealed Enemy. Of the four paintings, only the first and last titles survive.

to the American Art-Union in New York, he began a profitable seven-year association with them. During this period, Bingham produced works that made him one of America's greatest genre painters.

The Painter as Politician

The County Election, 1854.

The County Election, 1854.

[SHS Art Collection, 1978.0028]

Verdict of the People, 1854/1855.

[SHS Art Collection, 2005.001]

Stump Speaking, 1856.

[SHS Art Collection, 1972.0003]

Throughout his life, Bingham held strong beliefs about democracy and politics in America. He often used his artistic skills to portray his political views. As early as 1840, Bingham sketched and painted artful political banners for his political party, the Whigs. During his career, he also painted notable political figures such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson, 1856.

[ SHS Art Collection, 1949.0001 ], Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and Senator Thomas Hart Benton. Bingham’s paintings that focus on political campaigning and elections are some of his most important compositions. They show democracy at work, with all its strengths, weaknesses, and complexities.

Missouri State Capitol

Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City, around 1848.

[SHS 004586(3)]

Interior photograph of the Missouri House chamber in the capitol showing Bingham’s portrait of General Nathaniel Lyon

The second Missouri state capitol building in Jefferson City was completed in 1840 and burned to the ground on February 5, 1911. The paintings Bingham produced for the capitol were displayed there starting in 1859. They included large portraits of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and Nathaniel Lyon. Photographs remain of the lost portraits.

[SHS 005362]

Photograph of oil painting of George Washington destroyed in 1911 fire.

[SHS 005362]

Photograph of oil painting of Henry Clay destroyed in 1911 fire.

[SHS 006676]

Photograph of oil painting of General Nathaniel Lyon destroyed in 1911 fire. Bingham painted the portrait after Lyon’s death on August 10, 1861, at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek.

[SHS 006690]

Bingham did not just paint his political views. He also ran for office and served in both elected and appointed positions during his lifetime. In 1846 Bingham was elected by a narrow margin to the Missouri legislature, but his opponent successfully contested the outcome and took the office. Bingham was eventually elected to represent Saline County in 1848 and represented Missouri's eighth district at the Whig National Convention in June 1852.

Martial Law or Order No. 11 Martial Law or Order No. 11

Union General Thomas Ewing Jr. issued Order No. 11 in 1863. Ewing wanted to neutralize Confederate guerrillas, so he made people who lived farther than one mile from a Union military post move. Ewing's order affected people living in four western counties in Missouri. Bingham thought this order was unconstitutional. He found its harshness horrifying. He made up his mind to show the world Ewing’s wrongdoing on canvas.

Bingham began work on Order No. 11 in mid-November 1865 and completed it during the latter part of May 1868. He created a second and slightly larger version of the painting in 1870. It is now a part of the State Historical Society's Bingham collection.

[SHS 005640]

During the Civil War, Bingham sided with the Union. First he served as a captain in the U.S. Volunteer Reserve Corps. Then he worked as state treasurer in the provisional government in Jefferson City from 1862 to 1865. One of his most important political paintings, however, came out of his personal outrage over the actions of a Union general. Martial Law or Order No. 11 is a politically charged canvas that Bingham spent years promoting after he completed it in 1868. In 1875 he served in his last political post as Missouri’s adjutant general.

An adjutant general is an administrative officer in an army. One of Bingham’s administrative duties as adjutant general involved evaluating ex-soldiers' claims against the government. In early 1876 he lobbied Congress to provide Missouri with money to pay its state militia for service to the federal government during the Civil War. While in Washington, D.C., Bingham began his portrait of the sculptor Vinnie Ream.

At the end of his life, Bingham became the first professor of art at the University of Missouri.

Bingham's Legacy

George Caleb Bingham Photograph of George Caleb Bingham taken at age 69 in 1878.

[SHS 006809]

Interest in Bingham and his artwork faded after his death,

Obituary for Bingham as it appeared in the Kansas City Times.

[Kansas City Times. July 8, 1879, p. 4, col. 3.]

on July 7, 1879, in Kansas City. In 1933, however, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York bought Fur Traders Descending the Missouri . This purchase sparked interest in Bingham’s work. The St. Louis Art Museum organized a major exhibition of his work in 1934, and Missouri artist Thomas Hart Benton promoted him. Bingham’s drawings and paintings have since been given careful attention, and today he is considered one of America’s greatest and most popular painters.

Text and Research by Sidney Larson, Christine Montgomery, Joan Stack, and Carlynn Trout

Meets Show-Me Standards SS: 2, 6, 7; 4th grade GLE 2a.A.

References and Resources

For more information about George Caleb Bingham's life and career, see the following resources:

Society Resources

The following is a selected list of books, articles, and manuscripts about George Caleb Bingham in the research centers of The State Historical Society of Missouri. The Society’s call numbers follow the citations in brackets. All links will open in a new tab.

Artwork by George Caleb Bingham
The State Historical Society of Missouri owns one of the largest public collections of Bingham works in the United States.
Articles from the Missouri Historical Review
- Bryant, Keith L. “George Caleb Bingham: The Artist as Whig Politician.” v. 59, no. 4 (July 1965), pp. 448-463.
- “Commemorating George Caleb Bingham: An Exhibit.” v. 73, no. 4 (July 1979), pp. 407-425.
- Hamilton, Jean Tyree. “Mr. Bingham’s Tombstone.” v. 73, no. 4 (July 1979), pp. 426-433.
- Reiger, Nelson A. “Odyssey to an Authentication: A George Caleb Bingham Colorado Landscape.” v. 85, no. 3 (April 1991), pp. 237-263.
- Rollins, C.B., ed. “Letters of George Caleb Bingham to James S. Rollins, Part I.” v. 32, no. 1 (October 1937), pp. 3-34.
- _____. “Letters of George Caleb Bingham to James S. Rollins, Part II.” v. 32, no. 2 (January 1938), pp. 164-202.
- _____. “Letters of George Caleb Bingham to James S. Rollins, Part III.” v. 32, no. 3 (April 1938), pp. 340-377.
- _____. “Letters of George Caleb Bingham to James S. Rollins, Part IV.” v. 32, no. 4 (July 1938), pp. 484-522.
- _____. “Letters of George Caleb Bingham to James S. Rollins, Part V.” v. 33, no. 1 (October 1938), pp. 45-78.
- _____. “Letters of George Caleb Bingham to James S. Rollins, Part VI.” v. 33, no. 2 (January 1939), pp. 203-229.
- _____. “Letters of George Caleb Bingham to James S. Rollins, Part VII.” v. 33, no. 3 (April 1939), pp. 349-384.
- _____. “Letters of George Caleb Bingham to James S. Rollins, Part VIII.” v. 33, no. 4 (July 1939), 499-526.
- _____. “Some Recollections of George Caleb Bingham.” v. 20, no. 4 (July 1926), pp. 463-484.
- Simonds, May. “Missouri History as Illustrated by George C. Bingham.” v. 1, no. 3 (April 1907), pp. 181-190.
Articles from the Newspaper Collection
- “Appreciation of Bingham’s Genius is Exhibit in Museum of Modern Art, New York.” Columbia Tribune. March 18, 1935. p. 4.
- “Bingham as a Lobbyist.” Kansas City Times. May 17, 1876.
- “Death of General George C. Bingham.” Jefferson City Peoples Tribune. July 16, 1879, p. 2, col. 2.
- “George C. Bingham.” Kansas City Times. July 8, 1879. p. 4, col. 3.
- “George C. Bingham, the Artist.” Boonville Weekly Observer. September 30, 1854. p. 1, col. 7-8.
Books & Articles
- Bingham, George Caleb. “But I Forget That I am a Painter and Not a Politician”: The Letters of George Caleb Bingham. Columbia: The State Historical Society of Missouri; Arrow Rock, MO: Friends of Arrow Rock, 2011. [F508.1 B513shs]
- Bloch, E. Maurice. The Drawings of George Caleb Bingham, with a catalogue raisonné. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1975. [REF 508.1 B513bL3 oversize]
- _____. George Caleb Bingham: The Evolution of an Artist. 2 vols. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967. [REF F508.1 B513bL]
- _____. The Paintings of George Caleb Bingham: A Catalogue Raisonné. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1986. [REF F508.1 B513bL]
- Christensen, Lawrence O., William E. Foley, Gary R. Kremer, and Kenneth H. Winn, eds. Dictionary of Missouri Biography. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999. pp. 70-74, 655-58. [REF F508 D561]
- Christ-Janer, Albert. George Caleb Bingham: Frontier Painter of Missouri. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1975. [REF F508.1 B513ch2 oversize]
- _____. George Caleb Bingham: The Story of an Artist. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1940. [REF F508.1 B513ch]
- Constant, Alberta Wilson. Paintbox on the Frontier: The Life and Times of George Caleb Bingham. New York: Crowell, 1974. [REF F508.1 B513co]
- McDermott, John Francis. George Caleb Bingham, River Portraitist. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1959. [REF F508.1 B513mge]
- Nagel, Paul C. George Caleb Bingham: Missouri’s Famed Painter and Forgotten Politician. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2005. [REF F508.1 B513na]
- Rash, Nancy. The Painting and Politics of George Caleb Bingham. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991. [REF F508.1 B513ra]
- Rusk, Fern Helen. George Caleb Bingham: The Missouri Artist. Jefferson City, MO: Hugh Stephens Co., 1917. [REF F508.1 B513ru]
- Shapiro, Michael Edward. George Caleb Bingham. New York: Harry N. Abrams Publishers, in association with the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1993. [REF F508.1 B513sh2]
- _____ et al. George Caleb Bingham. New York: St. Louis Art Museum, in association with Harry N. Abrams Publishers, 1990. [REF F508.1 B513sh]
Manuscript Collection
- Bingham Family, Papers, 1814-1930 (C0998)
  Correspondence of members of the Bingham family of Virginia and then of Missouri and Texas. References to friends, deaths, marriages, travel prices, estates, and personal affairs of the Bingham family.
- Rollins, James S. (1812-1888), Papers, 1546-1968 (C1026)
  The papers of James S. Rollins, a Boone County, Missouri, lawyer, politician, business man, and curator of University of Missouri include correspondence with family, business and political associates, and friends, including George Caleb Bingham. Bingham’s letters contain information about his paintings, political views and aspirations, as well as things of a more personal nature. As close friends, Rollins and Bingham named their sons after each other and often wrote about intimate personal and family problems.

Outside Resources

These links, which open in another window, will take you outside the Society's Website. The Society is not responsible for the content of the following Websites:

Arrow Rock State Historic Site
This Website provides a general description of the historic Arrow Rock and mentions the house George Caleb Bingham built there.
Bronze Bust of George Caleb Bingham
This Website shows the bronze bust in Boonville, Missouri, created by sculptor Sabra Tull Meyer depicting the great Missouri artist.

Art Museums in Missouri with Bingham holdings
- The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
  Canvassing for a Vote, 1852
  This page on the museum’s Website offers an analysis of a specific Bingham painting.
- Saint Louis Art Museum
  George Caleb Bingham: The Making of “The County Election”
  This interactive online exhibition shows viewers how Bingham composed his great political painting, The County Election.

George Caleb Bingham (1811 - 1879)

Introduction

Early Years

Settling in Missouri

Becoming an Artist

Painting Frontier Life

The Painter as Politician

Bingham's Legacy

References and Resources

Society Resources

Artwork by George Caleb Bingham

Articles from the Missouri Historical Review

Articles from the Newspaper Collection

Books & Articles

Manuscript Collection

Outside Resources

Art Museums in Missouri with Bingham holdings

George Caleb Bingham