Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice book in great condition. Pages in excellent condition. Plates bright and vivid. Hardcover. English. See images for condition.

About the book >.>.> Though often thought of as the quintessential artist of Western frontier life George Caleb Bingham was actually born in Virginia. In 1819. at the age of eight he traveled to the Missouri Territory with his family joining the many other Americans migrating west in search of a better life. And in fact Bingham’s boyhood in Franklin was in many ways an American idyll-the lively impressionable boy spending his days along the river watching the men and boats that were later to be among his most resonant artistic subjects. Later in his early twenties Bingham set out on a long journey of artistic and personal development. As his artistic skills sharpened Bingham found his unique themes by drawing upon his memories of life on the Missouri River and upon his passionate involvement with the poli- tics of mid-century America. In a period of intense creativity from 1845 to 1857 Bingham left a rich artistic heritage that included such masterpieces as Fur Traders Descending the Mis- souri The Jolly Flatboatmen and The Verdict of the People. Since Bingham’s death in 1879 much of this legacy remained unknown but begin- ning in the 1930s his significance to Ameri- can art has become increasingly apparent. In this volume Michael Edward Shapiro Director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and organizer of the Saint Louis Art Museum’s im- portant 1990 Bingham retrospective draws to- gether the new advances in Bingham scholar- ship to present a fresh look at the artist’s life and career. (MP)