Stump Speaking
- Date
- 1853–54
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- American Art
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 337
- Dimensions
- 42 1/2 x 58 in. (108 x 147.3 cm)
framed: 54 1/8 x 69 5/16 x 4 7/16 in. (137.5 x 176.1 x 11.3 cm) - Credit Line
- Gift of Bank of America
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 43:2001
NOTES
A candidate leans forward to list his points before a crowd of rural citizens. Behind him sits his opponent, with tablet in hand, taking notes for his turn at the make-shift podium. The artist, George Caleb Bingham, was a Whig Party candidate for the Missouri State Legislature in 1846. Though Bingham won by three votes, the election was contested and given to his opponent, Erasmus Darwin Sappington, who is the speaker shown here.
Scholars have used Bingham's drawings to identify individuals in this work. The large, seated gentleman behind the speaker is Meredith Miles Marmaduke, part of the Democratic political machine. The gentleman in the white coat and top hat is state senator Clairborne Fox Jackson. Although these figures were recognizable to Missourians, Bingham intended this painting to celebrate the democratic election process more generally for a national audience.
Scholars have used Bingham's drawings to identify individuals in this work. The large, seated gentleman behind the speaker is Meredith Miles Marmaduke, part of the Democratic political machine. The gentleman in the white coat and top hat is state senator Clairborne Fox Jackson. Although these figures were recognizable to Missourians, Bingham intended this painting to celebrate the democratic election process more generally for a national audience.
Provenance
1853 - 1865
George Caleb Bingham (1811–1879) [1]
1865 - still in 1867
John How (1813–1885), St. Louis, MO, purchased from the artist [2]
- 1879
John H. Beach (1829–1893), St. Louis, MO [3]
1879 - 1941
Mercantile Library Association, St. Louis, MO, given by John H. Beach [3]
1941 - 2001
Boatmen's National Bank of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, purchased from the Mercantile Library Association [4]
2001 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Bank of America [5]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is Bloch's catalogue raisonné, the 1986 edition, cat. no. 273 [Bloch, E. Maurice "The Paintings of George Caleb Bingham." Columbia, MO, University of Missouri Press, 1986]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] This painting was begun before November 7, 1853 and completed by early February 1854 in Philadelphia. In 1860, Bingham exhibited the three paintings in the series - Stump Speaking, The County Election, and The Verdict of the People - at the Washington Art Association, the Pennsylvania Academy of Art, and the Western Academy of Art in St. Louis. They were offered for public sale at the time, although Bingham had hoped to sell the paintings to the Library Committee of Congress. In 1862, Bingham placed the paintings, along with Jolly Flatboatmen in Port (SLAM 123:1944), on indefinite loan to the St. Louis Mercantile Library Association [Bloch 1967, p. 141-2].
[2] In 1865, John How, President of the O'Fallon Polytechnic Institute of St. Louis, purchased the election series paintings (and Jolly Flatboatmen in Port) from Bingham, but they remained on view at the Mercantile Library until 1867 when How removed them to presumably display in the Institute [Bloch 1967, p. 142].
[3] Sometime between 1868 and 1879, the election series paintings (and Jolly Flatboatmen in Port) returned to the Mercantile Library on view. In 1879 the paintings were presented to the Mercantile Library as a gift from John H. Beach (1829–1893), life member, former President, and Trustee of the Mercantile Library Association. It is unclear how or when Beach acquired the four paintings [Bloch 1967, p. 142].
[4] Between 1934 and 1941, the election series paintings were on loan to the City Art Museum. In 1941, The Mercantile Library sold two of the paintings - Stump Speaking and The Verdict of the People - to Boatmen's National Bank of St. Louis (now Bank of America). [Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, December 4, 1941 and January 8, 1942].
[5] Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art
Museum, September 20, 2001.
George Caleb Bingham (1811–1879) [1]
1865 - still in 1867
John How (1813–1885), St. Louis, MO, purchased from the artist [2]
- 1879
John H. Beach (1829–1893), St. Louis, MO [3]
1879 - 1941
Mercantile Library Association, St. Louis, MO, given by John H. Beach [3]
1941 - 2001
Boatmen's National Bank of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, purchased from the Mercantile Library Association [4]
2001 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Bank of America [5]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is Bloch's catalogue raisonné, the 1986 edition, cat. no. 273 [Bloch, E. Maurice "The Paintings of George Caleb Bingham." Columbia, MO, University of Missouri Press, 1986]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] This painting was begun before November 7, 1853 and completed by early February 1854 in Philadelphia. In 1860, Bingham exhibited the three paintings in the series - Stump Speaking, The County Election, and The Verdict of the People - at the Washington Art Association, the Pennsylvania Academy of Art, and the Western Academy of Art in St. Louis. They were offered for public sale at the time, although Bingham had hoped to sell the paintings to the Library Committee of Congress. In 1862, Bingham placed the paintings, along with Jolly Flatboatmen in Port (SLAM 123:1944), on indefinite loan to the St. Louis Mercantile Library Association [Bloch 1967, p. 141-2].
[2] In 1865, John How, President of the O'Fallon Polytechnic Institute of St. Louis, purchased the election series paintings (and Jolly Flatboatmen in Port) from Bingham, but they remained on view at the Mercantile Library until 1867 when How removed them to presumably display in the Institute [Bloch 1967, p. 142].
[3] Sometime between 1868 and 1879, the election series paintings (and Jolly Flatboatmen in Port) returned to the Mercantile Library on view. In 1879 the paintings were presented to the Mercantile Library as a gift from John H. Beach (1829–1893), life member, former President, and Trustee of the Mercantile Library Association. It is unclear how or when Beach acquired the four paintings [Bloch 1967, p. 142].
[4] Between 1934 and 1941, the election series paintings were on loan to the City Art Museum. In 1941, The Mercantile Library sold two of the paintings - Stump Speaking and The Verdict of the People - to Boatmen's National Bank of St. Louis (now Bank of America). [Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, December 4, 1941 and January 8, 1942].
[5] Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art
Museum, September 20, 2001.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.