Showrooms

Stump Speaking

Creator: George Caleb Bingham
Offered by: Arader Galleries

Description
Published: New York, 1856
Framed size: 35 x 42 1/2”

One of the leading American genre painters of the mid-nineteenth century, George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879) created some of the most memorable views of American small town life. Bingham was fascinated by the democratic process and by the ways in which it permeated everyday existence in communities far removed from the big cities. Inspired perhaps by scenes he had witnessed personally, Bingham depicted the days when ballots were handwritten and politicians addressed the local public from soap boxes or tree stumps.

"Stump Speaking" is a fine example of the artist's ability to capture the special subtleties of an early American political scene. In this work, a dashing politician clad in a pristine white suit directs his speech to a colorful crowd of locals. The diversity of the audience adds an interesting and rich quality to the picture: plainly dressed farmers, upright gentlemen with entranced faces, bored young men with drooping eyelids, fidgeting children, and even family pets witness the proceedings.

Nostalgic and sentimental, Bingham's views were perhaps not fully realistic visions of small town American life in the 19th century, but they did represent the ideal of a rural, innocent, and peaceful existence for which so many late 19th-century Americans longed - especially on the eve of the Civil War. Still, Bingham's subtle and splendid engravings offer a glimpse into a time when the democratic system was still, in many ways, a grassroots movement and when all Americans felt eager to participate.

More Information

Documentation:
Period:	19th Century
Creation Date:	1856
Styles / Movements:	Other
Incollect Reference #:	97825

Message from Seller:

Founded in 1971, Arader Galleries is the world's leading dealer and auction house of Rare Maps, Prints, Rare Books and Watercolors of the 16th through 19th centuries. Over our forty-five year history we have grown to five magnificent locations in some of America’s most vibrant cities and are represented at the most distinguished antiques shows in the country. We are proud to buy and sell more original Audubon prints that any other firm in the United States.