Stump Speaking
- Artist
- George Caleb Bingham, American, 1811–1879
- Date
- 1853–54
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- Classification
- Paintings
- 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
- Contact Us
- 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.