George Caleb Bingham (1811–1879)
Oil on canvas, 29 x 36.5 in. - 1845
Fur Traders Descending the Missouri is one of Bingham's most famous paintings. It is owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Painted around 1845 in the style called luminism by some historians of American art, it was originally entitled, "French-Trader, Half-breed Son." The American Art-Union thought the title potentially controversial and renamed it. The painting is haunting for its evocation of a bygone era in American history — note, in particular, the liberty cap worn by the old man.
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