The Belated Wayfarers
- Date
- 1856
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- made in
- Missouri, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- American Art
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 24 5/8 x 29 5/8 in. (62.6 x 75.2 cm)
framed: 31 5/8 x 36 5/8 x 2 7/16 in. (80.3 x 93 x 6.2 cm) - Credit Line
- Gift of Arthur C. Hoskins
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 664:1958
Provenance
by 1859 -
Charles Derby, St. Louis, MO [1]
Mr. Pearce
by 1902 -
Mr. and Mrs. John J. Conroy, Columbia, MO, purchased from Mr. Pearce [2]
by 1908 - still in 1940
McCaughen & Burr Fine Arts, St. Louis, MO [3]
by 1954 - 1960
Arthur C. Hoskins, St. Louis, MO, purchased from McCaughen & Burr Fine Arts [4]
1958 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Arthur C. Hoskins [5]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is Bloch's catalogue raisonné, the 1986 edition, cat. no. 385 [Bloch, E. Maurice. "The Paintings of George Caleb Bingham: A Catalogue Raisonné." Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press: 1986]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted. "Belated Wayfarers" is considered to be the pendant of "Captured by Indians" (147:1962), and the two works share most of the same provenance.
[1] In 1859, Derby exhibited a painting entitled "In Camp", at the Fourth Annual Fair of the St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Association [Hopewell, Menra. "Report of the Fourth Annual Fair of the St. Louis Agricultural & Mechanical Association of September, 1859." St. Louis, George Knapp & Co.: September, 1859, p. 125 cat. no. 80]. Bloch believed this was most likely the same painting as "Belated Wayfarers".
[2] In a letter dated December 13, 1902, the artist Mat Hastings, a friend of Bingham, wrote that "The Belated Wayfarers" and "Captured by Indians" had once been owned by a Mr. Pearce who sold them to Mr. and Mrs. John J. Conroy. Hastings did not provide Pearce's years of ownership. E. Maurice Bloch suggested that the letter was written to Mrs. John J. Conroy, but this seems unlikely since Hastings refers to her in the third person. Bloch stated that the original copy of the letter was at the Missouri History Museum [typed transcription of letter in SLAM document files].
[3] Bloch noted that McCaughen & Burr Fine Arts owned the paintings by 1908. The firm still owned the painting in 1940 [Christ-Janer, Albert. "George Caleb Bingham of Missouri: The Story of an Artist." New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1940, p.71].
[4] In 1954, Arthur C. Hoskins lent the painting to the City Art Museum's exhibition "Westward the Way" [Rathbone, Perry. "Westward the Way." St. Louis: Von Hoffman Press, 1954, p. 268].
[5] Between 1958 and 1960, Arthur Hoskins and the City Art Museum of St. Louis split ownership of "Belated Wayfarers." He gave the Museum 1/3 of the ownership of the painting every year from 1958 through 1960, when the Museum gained full ownership of the work. Three Deeds of Gift, dated December 30, 1958; May 1,1959; and April 28, 1960 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, Jan. 8, 1959; May 14, 1959; May 12, 1960.
Charles Derby, St. Louis, MO [1]
Mr. Pearce
by 1902 -
Mr. and Mrs. John J. Conroy, Columbia, MO, purchased from Mr. Pearce [2]
by 1908 - still in 1940
McCaughen & Burr Fine Arts, St. Louis, MO [3]
by 1954 - 1960
Arthur C. Hoskins, St. Louis, MO, purchased from McCaughen & Burr Fine Arts [4]
1958 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Arthur C. Hoskins [5]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is Bloch's catalogue raisonné, the 1986 edition, cat. no. 385 [Bloch, E. Maurice. "The Paintings of George Caleb Bingham: A Catalogue Raisonné." Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press: 1986]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted. "Belated Wayfarers" is considered to be the pendant of "Captured by Indians" (147:1962), and the two works share most of the same provenance.
[1] In 1859, Derby exhibited a painting entitled "In Camp", at the Fourth Annual Fair of the St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Association [Hopewell, Menra. "Report of the Fourth Annual Fair of the St. Louis Agricultural & Mechanical Association of September, 1859." St. Louis, George Knapp & Co.: September, 1859, p. 125 cat. no. 80]. Bloch believed this was most likely the same painting as "Belated Wayfarers".
[2] In a letter dated December 13, 1902, the artist Mat Hastings, a friend of Bingham, wrote that "The Belated Wayfarers" and "Captured by Indians" had once been owned by a Mr. Pearce who sold them to Mr. and Mrs. John J. Conroy. Hastings did not provide Pearce's years of ownership. E. Maurice Bloch suggested that the letter was written to Mrs. John J. Conroy, but this seems unlikely since Hastings refers to her in the third person. Bloch stated that the original copy of the letter was at the Missouri History Museum [typed transcription of letter in SLAM document files].
[3] Bloch noted that McCaughen & Burr Fine Arts owned the paintings by 1908. The firm still owned the painting in 1940 [Christ-Janer, Albert. "George Caleb Bingham of Missouri: The Story of an Artist." New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1940, p.71].
[4] In 1954, Arthur C. Hoskins lent the painting to the City Art Museum's exhibition "Westward the Way" [Rathbone, Perry. "Westward the Way." St. Louis: Von Hoffman Press, 1954, p. 268].
[5] Between 1958 and 1960, Arthur Hoskins and the City Art Museum of St. Louis split ownership of "Belated Wayfarers." He gave the Museum 1/3 of the ownership of the painting every year from 1958 through 1960, when the Museum gained full ownership of the work. Three Deeds of Gift, dated December 30, 1958; May 1,1959; and April 28, 1960 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, Jan. 8, 1959; May 14, 1959; May 12, 1960.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.