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8-18-07 Paul Milholland

George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879)

"Boatmen on the Missouri" (1846)

Oil on canvas

Nikon D50 ,Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D AF
1/60s f/4.0 at 50mm ISO 800 full exif

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Jack Hoying20-Aug-2007 18:17
Guess it is firewood afterall. I found this text on-line.

"Bingham grew up on the banks of the great Missouri River. When he was just a kid, a traveling portrait painter came to town and set up shop for a while. Bingham used to visit the artist's studio and watch him work. He was so impressed that he decided to become a professional painter himself.

Bingham was one of the first artists to paint the American west, and one of the only artists to have been raised on the frontier. He was a "man of the people" and his characters are shown with respect and appreciation.

The three fellows in this painting are wood cutters. Their raft, stacked with firewood, waits in the middle of the river for a customer to come along and buy the wood...probably that big steamboat you see off in the distance.

The guys are relaxing after their hard work. They look like just the kind of fellows you'd find on the frontier...independent, confident, adventurous. They're not rich...in fact they're kind of raggedy and barefoot. One woodcutter has a torn old top hat. Still they're optimistic...these guys really have a positive attitude.

Thanks to Kim Solga, our art historian at KidsArt, and to the Fine Arts Musuem of San Francisco for sending this picture to Imagination Station. It was even made into a stamp by the US Post Office...one of 20 American art masterpieces you could use to mail a letter to your best friend."
Jack Hoying20-Aug-2007 18:14
Wonder what they are transporting. Too uniform to be firewood. It could be slabs of clay that the just dug?