George Caleb Bingham, Country Politician

George Caleb Bingham, Country Politician, 1849, oil on canvas, 51.8 x 61 cm (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco). Speakers: Emily Jennings, Director of School and Family Programs, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and Steven Zucker A Seeing America video

[0:00] [music]

Dr. Steven Zucker: [0:06] We’re in the de Young Museum, part of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, looking at a painting by George Caleb Bingham painted in 1849, and it’s called “Country Politician.” The scene is set in a slightly rough interior.

[0:21] This is not a genteel environment that we might find in the eastern United States, in the cities of Philadelphia or New York. We’re in what was then considered the west. This is Missouri.

Emily Jennings: [0:32] The dominant tones of brown speak to that idea of building something from the ground up.

Dr. Zucker: [0:38] Because they’re gathered so closely around that stove, it feels like such an intimate gathering. I almost feel invited to join that conversation.

Emily: [0:46] The central figure is either the owner of the space or maybe the fat cat that has the most money in the situation.

Dr. Zucker: [0:53] Puffing on his pipe with a bit of a smirk on his face.

Emily: [0:56] The man on the right, he’s been identified as the politician, so we’re really wondering, “What are they talking about?”

Dr. Zucker: [1:02] When we think about politics now in the 21st century, we often think about campaigns that are mediated by television, where politics exist at a distance. This is a very different era, and we have a politician who’s trying to convince, to bring along, one person at a time.

Emily: [1:18] What’s fascinating to me too is that Bingham was a politician, so you can almost imagine him channeling the many faces that he came into contact with as he was doing his own campaigning.

Dr. Zucker: [1:29] It almost seems that Bingham the painter is making fun of Bingham the politician in the earnestness with which he paints the man on the right.

Emily: [1:37] He was an advocate for going back to the ideals of the revolution that sat on the power of the people to make choices. The importance of how this older gentleman makes a decision becomes the crux of the composition.

Dr. Zucker: [1:50] It’s possible that that man, the oldest of the four figures, is just about the age of the United States itself. He might be about 75.

Emily: [1:58] Is this politician going to be effective in winning over the people?

Dr. Zucker: [2:02] Bingham was a representative in the state legislature in Missouri, representing the Whig Party.

Emily: [2:08] In Missouri, this painting was first displayed at a very crucial point in state politics, debate around the Wilmot Proviso, which was being voted on in Congress. This was very contentious, particularly in Missouri, which at the time was a slave-holding state.

Dr. Zucker: [2:21] It’s important to remember that in 1849, just a few years before the Civil War, the US had won a victory over Mexico. And so although we were technically purchasing territory from Mexico, we had taken it by military force.

Emily: [2:35] A resolution in the debate around the Wilmot Proviso is titled the Bingham Resolution. It displays his political views as being more moderate. Really advocating for the populace’s opportunity to vote upon whether future states would be slave-holding or free states.

Dr. Zucker: [2:50] This painting was seen as a kind of enactment of that very detailed politics. That very idea of individuals like the man on the left making up his mind, listening to both sides, weighing these issues, and deciding in his own mind whether or not he would vote for a politician that would represent the Wilmot Proviso, or would come down more forcefully on the side of slaveholders.

Emily: [3:11] That idea of conversation and debate is really what made this composition nationally important, as well when it traveled to New York and it was purchased by the American Art Union.

Dr. Zucker: [3:21] This is a type of painting that we would call genre. That is, it’s a scene of everyday events. This was a type of painting that had become increasingly popular in the mid-19th century among the American middle classes.

[3:32] Although the middle classes might not have been able to afford this painting, they were able to afford the prints that were made from it.

Emily: [3:38] We do see this national narrative about how we as individuals play a role within our political environment.

Dr. Zucker: [3:45] Even given all the seriousness of this subject, this is also meant to be entertaining, it’s meant to be funny. Look for instance at the fourth figure, he’s turned his back to the conversation, although perhaps he’s still listening.

[3:57] He seems to be warming his back against the fire while he reads some of the bills that are posted on the wall. One of those is a circus, and I can’t help but imagine that Bingham is creating this wonderful relationship between the circus that is performed, and the circus that is American politics.

[4:14] [music]

Title Country Politician
Artist(s) George Caleb Bingham
Dates 1849
Places North America / United States
Period, Culture, Style Realism / Antebellum period
Artwork Type Painting / Genre painting
Material Oil paint, Canvas
Technique

Key points

  • In the aftermath of the Mexican-American War (1846-48), the legality of slavery in new territories was a contentious matter, foreshadowing the American Civil War. The Wilmot Proviso, which would have prevented slavery in these new territories, was passed twice by the House of Representatives, but was never approved by the Senate. In its place, the Compromise of 1850 attempted to defuse these tensions by allowing states to vote on slavery while strengthening the Fugitive Slave Act.
  • Politics in the nineteenth century was conducted on a more personal level, as politicians had to travel to meet voters and speak with them directly about their stance on issues. As a politician himself, the artist would have been familiar with this process, particularly in frontier areas like the one depicted in this painting.
  • George Caleb Bingham was a representative in the Missouri House of Representatives as a member of the Whig party and an advocate for returning to the ideals of the American Revolution. He believed that the people should be given the power to make decisions. When the Missouri legislation passed the “Jackson Resolutions” of 1849, which claimed it was unconstitutional for Congress to bar slavery in newly acquired territories, Bingham countered with the “Bingham Resolutions,” recommending that states be allowed to vote on the matter.
  • This painting was purchased by the American Art Union, where it was reproduced widely as an affordable print. As a print, it contributed to the national conversation on states’ rights and contemporary politics, but it also created an entertaining depiction of politics in the western U.S.

More to think about

How do you think Bingham’s depiction of politics in the 19th century compares to contemporary images about politicians, political debate, and civic engagement of the public? If you were going to create a genre scene about politicians talking to their constituents today, how might you alter Bingham’s original image to reflect your own ideas and experience?

Cite this page as: Emily Jennings, Director of School and Family Programs, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and Dr. Steven Zucker, "George Caleb Bingham, Country Politician," in Smarthistory, February 10, 2019, accessed May 19, 2025, https://smarthistory.org/bingham-country-politician/.