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Navigating the West

George Caleb Bingham and the River

Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser author Dorothy Mahon author Claire M Barry author Nenette Luarca-Shoaf author Nancy Heugh author Andrew J Walker author Janeen Turk author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Yale University Press

Published:23rd Oct '14

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Navigating the West cover

A new look at George Caleb Bingham’s iconic river paintings and his creative process in making them

George Caleb Bingham (1811–1879) moved to Missouri as a child and began painting the scenes of Missouri life for which he is now famous in the 1840s. Navigating the West explores how Bingham’s iconic river paintings reveal the cultural and economic significance of the massive Mississippi and Missouri waterways to mid-19th-century society. Focusing on the artist’s working methods and preparatory drawings, the book also explores Bingham’s representations of people and places and situates these images in a dialogue with other contemporary depictions of the region. Of particular note are 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 previously understudied process. Technical analysis of the artist’s lauded masterpiece, Fur Traders Descending the Missouri, reveals Bingham’s considerable revisions to the painting. In the concluding essay, the 20th-century revival of the artist’s work is discussed within the context of American Regionalism and in light of a shifting sequence of narratives about the nation’s past and future.

Distributed for the Amon Carter Museum of American Art and the Saint Louis Art Museum


Exhibition Schedule:

Amon Carter Museum of American Art
(10/04/14–01/04/15)

Saint Louis Art Museum
(02/22/15–05/17/15)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
(06/22/15–09/20/15)

Amon Carter Museum of American Art
(10/04/14–01/04/15) * Amon Carter Museum of American Art *
Saint Louis Art Museum
(02/22/15–05/17/15) * Saint Louis Art Museum *
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
(06/22/15–09/20/15) * The Metropolitan Museum of Art *

ISBN: 9780300206708

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 1588g

200 pages