George Caleb Bingham - Boatmen on the Missouri - Google Art Project

George Caleb Bingham (1811–1879) was an American frontier painter noted for his landscapes, his portraits, and especially his representations of Midwestern river life. In 1819 Bingham’s family moved to Franklin, Missouri, on the Lewis and Clark trail. After the death of his father, the family relocated to Arrow Rock, Missouri. Between 1827 and 1828, Bingham apprenticed to a cabinetmaker in Booneville, Missouri, during which time his interest in a career as a painter developed. By 1833 he had established himself as an accomplished itinerant portrait painter. Except for three months of study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Bingham was self-taught.