George Caleb Bingham

Died - July 7, 1879, in Kansas City

Early Life

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 he was 7, he and his family moved to Franklin, Mo.

George began his career as an artist painting portraits. This was a time before cameras so people really enjoyed having portraits painted of loved ones. He then traveled to the east coast to study art and returned to Missouri continuing to paint portraits to support his family and also relating to life and commerce along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and to the American scene involving the people of Missouri in and around St. Louis, Columbia, Jefferson City, Arrow Rock, Boonville, and Kansas City. .

Interest in Bingham's work faded after his death. 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. Today the majority of Bingham's paintings and virtually all of his drawings are held in American museums, with the largest selection of paintings at the St. Louis Museum of Art.