The Jolly Flatboatmen

It's a festive and inviting scene—eight men enjoy a day on the water while heading down the river to port, their flatboat laden with goods such as furs and blankets from stops at various trading posts. Their journey nearing its end, the men celebrate; some make merry with music and dance, while others lounge on the deck. American artist George Caleb Bingham specialized in scenes such as these of everyday life along a mighty river in the nineteenth century.

Primarily a self-taught artist, Bingham began as a portrait painter and executed nearly 500 portraits by the end of his career. He is best known for scenes of American frontier life, however, which he experienced firsthand. Raised in Missouri, he lived there his entire life except for three years in which he settled in Düsseldorf and worked in a community of American artists. The Western frontier provided ample material for his paintings: longboatmen, fur traders, trappers, and Native Americans. The Jolly Flatboatmen became one of his most famous paintings. Sold to the American Art Union, a subscription-based organization that promoted national art, it was awarded to one of its members in an annual contest in 1846. The following year, 10,000 reproductions were made and disseminated among the organization's membership. The painting became hugely popular. Not only did it capture the allure of the untamed West and westward expansion, it also had a very democratic appeal in depicting ordinary people engaging in work and play.

The Missouri artist, as Bingham was known, was passionate about the American democratic process and, later in life, made a series of paintings focusing on campaigning and elections. He not only portrayed his political views in art, but was active in Missouri politics, holding several elected and appointed positions.

- Martina Keogan