George Caleb Bingham

During his time in Missouri, Bingham was a member of the Whig Party and ran for different political offices within the state. In 1874, he became president of the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners and also Chief of Police. He also accepted the role as the first Professor of Art at the University of Missouri at Columbia, a position that was cut short by his death in 1879.

In 1976, a series of 112 figure study sketches by Bingham (which were donated to the St. Louis Mercantile Library by St. Louis Mayor John How in 1868) were on exhibit around the state in an effort to raise enough money for their purchase. To avoid a scenario where they would have to be separated and sold at auction, Missouri’s then-governor, Christopher Bond, organized a trust named Bingham Sketches, Incorporated in the hopes that it could acquire the drawings by and for the state of Missouri. In 1979, the trust officially raised enough money through state-appropriated funds and private donations to purchase them. The works are now kept at the Saint Louis Museum of Art and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.

The life and works of this artist have been extensively researched and documented. To find articles and books on this artist, visit the library catalogs of these partner institutions: St. Louis Public Library, Spencer Art Reference Library at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and the Jannes Library at the Kansas City Art Institute. To find other resources in your area, including those of public and academic libraries, visit WorldCat.org.