Navigating the West: George Caleb Bingham and the River

An oil painting of a group of White men lounging on a flat boat as two play music and one man dances in the center.
October 2, 2014–January 18, 2015
Second floor

Navigating the West, a dynamic exhibition featuring 16 iconic river paintings and 50 drawings, reveals for the first time how George Caleb Bingham (1811–1879) created his art and artistic persona at a time when American painting, like the country, was dramatically shifting. Then and now our nation’s waterways—how they are used, controlled, and the lives of the people closest to them—remain a current and important issue.

George Caleb Bingham

The Jolly Flatboatmen, 1846

Oil on canvas

An oil painting of a group of White men lounging on a flat boat as two play music and one man dances in the center.

George Caleb Bingham

Fur Traders Descending the Missouri, 1845

Oil on canvas

An oil painting of two White men and a black cat in a canoe on calm water: the older man paddles as the younger one leans on a pile of furs.

George Caleb Bingham

Skillet beater (2) [from "Jolly Flatboatmen in Port"], ca. 1857

Brush, ink, and wash over graphite; heightened with gouache

An ink sketch of a smiling man seated on a crate holding a skillet in one hand and hitting it with the other.

George Caleb Bingham

Watching the Cargo, 1849

Oil on canvas

An oil painting of three White men: two seated in front of a pile of crates and barrels as another kneels on the ground blowing on a fire.

George Caleb Bingham

Raftsmen Playing Cards, 1847

Oil on canvas

An oil painting of six White men on a flat boat on calm water: two are seated on a bench playing cards as three watch and one paddles at the front of the boat.

George Caleb Bingham

Self-Portrait, 1834-35

Oil on canvas

An oil painting of a serious-looking, seated White man with dark hair wearing a black jacket with a high collar.

George Caleb Bingham

Boatmen on the Missouri, 1846

Oil on canvas

An oil painting of three White men, two seated and one standing with a paddle, on a flat boat on calm water.

George Caleb Bingham

Jolly Flatboatmen in Port, 1857

Oil on canvas

An oil painting of a group of mostly White men on a flat boat, some lounging, some standing, as several play music and one man dances in the center.

George Caleb Bingham

Fur Trader [from "Fur Traders Descending the Missouri" and "Trappers' Return"], 1845

Brush and black ink and wash over pencil

A black-and-white ink sketch of a middle-aged man chewing on a piece of straw seated in a canoe holding his paddle in the still water.

After premiering at the Carter, the exhibition traveled to the Saint Louis Art Museum, on view from February 22–May 17, 2015. It closed in New York at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from June 15–September 20, 2015.

Installation Photos

Click a button below to open in gallery. Activating any of the below buttons shows the installation photos gallery

All Exhibitions

This exhibition has been organized by the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, and the Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, Missouri. It is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities and in part by generous grants from the Henry Luce Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Fort Worth presentation is supported by the Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts and the Crystelle Waggoner Charitable Trust, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee. The media sponsor is WFAA.