1845, George Caleb Bingham, Fur Traders Descending the Missouri -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
From the museum label: In the summer of 1845, Bingham returned to his St. Louis home from a winter stay in central Missouri, bringing with him several paintings and sketches. This was one of those works that he later sent to New York's American Art-Union, a subscription-based organization that promoted American art nationally through exhibitions and the distribution of popular prints. Titled by the artist French Trader & Half breed Son, the Art-Union changed it to the more generic and less controversial Fur Traders Descending the Missouri. The tranquil scene, with its luminous atmosphere, idealized the American frontier for the benefit of a Northeastern audience.
1845, George Caleb Bingham, Fur Traders Descending the Missouri -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
From the museum label: In the summer of 1845, Bingham returned to his St. Louis home from a winter stay in central Missouri, bringing with him several paintings and sketches. This was one of those works that he later sent to New York's American Art-Union, a subscription-based organization that promoted American art nationally through exhibitions and the distribution of popular prints. Titled by the artist French Trader & Half breed Son, the Art-Union changed it to the more generic and less controversial Fur Traders Descending the Missouri. The tranquil scene, with its luminous atmosphere, idealized the American frontier for the benefit of a Northeastern audience.