George Caleb Bingham

Navigating the West

One of the foremost American genre painters of the 19th century, George Caleb Bingham is best known for his compelling depictions of frontier life along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Opening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on June 17, Navigating the West: George Caleb Bingham and the River is the first major Bingham exhibition in more than 25 years. It will bring together for the first time 16 of his iconic river paintings. This extraordinary series chronicles the transformation of America’s western wilderness and established an indelible image of the West for the nation. More than 40 of Bingham’s masterful preparatory drawings depicting fur traders and boatmen at work and play on the inland rivers will provide an unprecedented look at Bingham’s artistic process. Bingham’s early masterpiece, Fur Traders Descending the Missouri (1845), from the collection of the Metropolitan, will be featured in the exhibition.

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