Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
IMAGES AVAILABLE
Matthew Hathaway, 314.655.5493
matthew.hathaway@slam.org
Saint Louis Art Museum to present Navigating the West: George Caleb Bingham and the River
Exhibition showcases the river-related paintings and drawings of the ‘the Missouri artist’
ST. LOUIS, Jan. 27 —The Saint Louis Art Museum
next month will present Navigating the West: George
Caleb Bingham and the River, an exhibition that for the
first time in decades brings together the river paintings
and drawings of George Caleb Bingham.
Dubbed “the Missouri artist,” Bingham (1811-1879)
moved to the state as a child and, by the 1840s, began
painting the scenes of western life for which he is now
famous. Through 22 paintings and 50 drawings,
Navigating the West focuses on Bingham’s iconic
depictions of frontier life on and along the Mississippi
and Missouri rivers.
Navigating the West is the most extensive and ambitious
of three coinciding exhibitions exploring multiple visions
of landscape and the river in 19th-century American art.
Visitors to Navigating the West are invited to enjoy the
free exhibitions Scenic Wonder: An Early American
Journey Down the Hudson River and Thomas Cole's
Voyage of Life.
George Caleb Bingham, American, 1811–1879; Fur Traders Descending the Missouri,
1845; oil on canvas; 29 1/4 x 36 1/4 inches; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
Morris K. Jesup Fund, 1933 (33.61); Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
For Navigating the West, Bingham masterworks from
institutions across the nation will join iconic paintings
from the Art Museum’s American collection, including
Raftsmen Playing Cards, The Wood-boat and Jolly
Flatboatmen in Port. Even longtime fans of these works
will see them in a new light, as part of Bingham’s larger
consideration of the river.
Important works of art loaned to the exhibition include
Fur Traders Descending the Missouri, from The
Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Jolly Flatboatmen,
from the Manoogian Collection; Portrait of Leonidas
Wetmore, from the U.S. Department of State; and
Continued
George Caleb Bingham, American, 1811–1879; Boatmen on the Missouri, 1846; oil on
canvas; 25 x 30 inches; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John D.
Rockefeller III, 1979.7.15
George Caleb Bingham, American, 1811–1879; The Jolly Flatboatmen, 1846; oil on canvas;
38 x 48 1/2 inches; Manoogian Collection
George Caleb Bingham, American, 1811–1879; Jolly Flatboatmen in Port, 1857; oil on
canvas; 47 1/4 x 69 5/8 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Museum Purchase 123:1944
Boatmen on the Missouri, from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Beyond the genre subjects, the exhibition also includes Bingham’s early portraits featuring rivers, allowing for an
examination of the ways in which proximity to the Missouri and Mississippi rivers shaped his career and art production,
even before he turned to his river workers.
Two of Bingham’s river compositions–In a Quandary and The Jolly Flatboatmen–also were circulated as prints. These
prints allowed Bingham’s work to reach a much wider audience than the paintings ever could. Impressions of these
prints will be included in the exhibition as well.
Navigating the West also includes the recently restored Panorama of the Monumental Grandeur of the Mississippi
Valley. Painted by artist John J. Egan around 1850, at the same time as Bingham’s masterworks, the 348-foot-long
Panorama also depicts life on and along the western rivers.
The exhibition opens to the public on Sunday, Feb. 22 and runs through May 17. Ticket prices for the general public are
$14 for adults, $12 for seniors and students, and $6 for children ages 6 to 12. Children under the age of 6 are free.
Members receive free tickets to Navigating the West, and the exhibition is free for all visitors on Fridays. (Tickets
purchased or reserved through MetroTix will be assessed a service fee.)
Navigating the West is co-organized by the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art,
and the exhibition will travel to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in June.
In St. Louis, the exhibition opening coincides with Navigating the Changing Nation: The River and Mid-NineteenthCentury American Art, a scholarly symposium exploring the social and artistic importance of America's rivers pictured
in paintings, drawings, and prints of the 1800s. The symposium is held at the Art Museum on Feb. 20-21.
The exhibition was created by the curatorial and conservation team of Claire Barry, director of conservation at the
Kimbell Art Museum; Margaret C. Conrads, deputy director of art and research at the Amon Carter; Nancy Heugh,
paper conservator at the Saint Louis Art Museum; Nenette Luarca-Shoaf, independent curator; Shirley Reece-Hughes,
associate curator, paintings and sculpture at the Amon Carter; Janeen Turk, assistant curator of American art at the
Saint Louis Art Museum; and Andrew J. Walker, director of the Amon Carter.
Continued
George Caleb Bingham, American, 1811–1879;
Boatman, for Watching the Cargo (1849) and
Mississippi Boatman (1850); brush, black ink,
and wash over pencil on cream wove paper; 11
x 8 1/2 inches; Lent by The People of Missouri,
Acquired through the generosity of Mercantile
Trust Company, N.A.
George Caleb Bingham, American, 1811–1879;
Skillet-beater (2), for Jolly Flatboatmen in Port
(1857) and The Jolly Flatboatmen (1877–78)
with alterations; brush, black ink, and wash
over pencil heightened with white gouache on
tan wove paper; 13 5/8 x 11 3/4 inches; Lent
by The People of Missouri, Acquired through
the generosity of The Kansas City Star
George Caleb Bingham, American, 1811–1879;
Fur trader with alterations, for Fur Traders
Descending the Missouri (1845) and Trappers'
Return (1851) with alterations; brush, black
ink, and wash over pencil on off-white wove
paper; 11 7/8 x 9 1/2 inches; Lent by The
People of Missouri, Acquired through the
generosity of Allen P. and Josephine B. Green
Foundation
George Caleb Bingham, American, 1811–1879;
Boatman, for Boatmen on the Missouri (1846);
brush, black ink, and wash over paper; 9 1/2 x
8 inches; Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Stuart P. Feld
The exhibition is accompanied by a scholarly, full-color catalogue, Navigating the West: George Caleb Bingham and the
River (ISBN 978-0-300-20670-8). It includes two landmark essays investigating Bingham’s creative process through
comparisons of infrared images of 17 of his paintings with both his preparatory drawings and the completed works,
casting new light on his process. The 200-page catalogue is published by the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Amon
Carter Museum of American Art, and distributed by Yale University Press. The retail price of the hardcover catalogue is
$45.
The Saint Louis Art Museum is one of the nation’s leading comprehensive art museums with collections that include works of art of exceptional
quality from virtually every culture and time period. Areas of notable depth include Oceanic art, pre-Columbian art, ancient Chinese bronzes and
European and American art of the late 19th and 20th centuries, with particular strength in 20th-century German art. Admission to the Saint Louis
Art Museum is free to all every day. For more information, call 314.721.0072 or visit slam.org.
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