One of the Society’s most notable collections features artist George Caleb Bingham’s work. Bingham produced many remarkable drawings, portraits, landscapes, and scenes of social and political life on the frontier, painting his most significant pieces between 1845 and 1860. The Society also holds significant works by Missouri artist Thomas Hart Benton, including his World War II-era Year of Peril series of paintings. Numerous other artists such as Jean Babcock Coover, a ballerina and dance instructor in Kansas City, and Jane Froman, a popular singer and entertainer during the 1930s through the 1950s, are included in the collections as well.
Articles from Missouri Historical Review and Missouri Times
- Adams, Henry "Thomas Hart Benton's Fall from Grace."
Missouri Historical Review 109 (April 2015): 145-157. - Amyx, Clifford "The Authentic Image of Daniel Boone."
Missouri Historical Review 82 (January 1988): 153-164. - Ankeney, J. S. "A Century of Missouri Art."
Missouri Historical Review 16 (July 1922): 481-201. - Boutros, David "The West Illustrated: Meyer's Views of Missouri River Towns."
Missouri Historical Review 80 (April 1986): 304-320. - Brown, Elbert R. "The Circus in Early Rural Missouri."
Missouri Historical Review 47 (October 1952): 1-17. - Bryant, Keith L. "George Caleb Bingham: The Artist as a Whig Politician."
Missouri Historical Review 59 (July 1965): 448-463. - Coiner, Miles W., Jr. "The Grand Opera House and the Golden Age of the Legitimate Theatre in Kansas City."
Missouri Historical Review 67 (April 1973): 407-423. - Dains, Mary K. "Thomas Hart Benton's Huck Finn Illustrations Commemorate Mark Twain."
Missouri Historical Review 80 (October 1985): 1-13. - David, John Russell "The Genesis of the Variety Theatre: The Black Crook Comes to St. Louis."
Missouri Historical Review 64 (January 1970): 133-149. - Dickey, Lily Ann "The Pastimes of Missourians before 1900."
Missouri Historical Review 37 (January 1943): 134-149. - Eckey, Lorelei F. "Shades of Empire: Beach-De Haven Home Talent Shows in Missouri."
Missouri Historical Review 79 (January 1985): 192-208. - Ehrlich, George "The Visual Arts in Early Kansas City."
Missouri Historical Review 93 (April 1999): 277-292. - Field, Lyman "Thomas Hart Benton Remembered."
Missouri Historical Review 84 (January 1990): 131-165. - Goodrich, James W. "Duane Evans Lyon: A Sketch of an Artist."
Missouri Historical Review 97 (October 2002): 59-72. - Griffin, Maude E. "Vinnie Ream: Portrait of a Sculptor."
Missouri Historical Review 56 (April 1962): 230-243. - Havig, Alan "Commercial Amusements in Kansas City before World War I."
Missouri Historical Review 75 (April 1981): 316-345. - Hollingsworth, Gerelyn "Legitimate Theater in St. Louis, 1870-1879."
Missouri Historical Review 69 (April 1975): 260-281. - Jennings, Harlan "Grand Opera in St. Louis, 1886: A Championship Season?"
Missouri Historical Review 85 (April 1991): 304-320.
"The Early Days of Grand Opera in Kansas City, 1860-1879"
Missouri Historical Review 95 (July 2001): 349-371. - Kempton, Greta "Painting the Truman Family."
Missouri Historical Review 67 (April 1973): 335-350. - King, Roy T. "Portraits of Daniel Boone."
Missouri Historical Review 33 (January 1939): 171-183. - Larson, Sidney "Conservation of a Bingham Portrait."
Missouri Historical Review 66 (April 1972): 336-341. - Loring, Janet "Coates' Tales Missouri."
Historical Review 56 (July 1962): 319-327. - Moss, James E. "Dramatic Criticism in Frontier St. Louis, 1835-1838."
Missouri Historical Review 58 (January 1964): 191-216. - Mattox, Margaret "Faces in History: Nineteenth-Century Portraits from the Collection of the State Historical Society of Missouri."
Missouri Historical Review 97 (April 2003): 234-242. - McDermott, John Francis "Some Unpublished Sketches by George Caleb Bingham."
Missouri Historical Review 54 (October 1959): 46-51. - Ohman, Marian M. "The Scruggs-Vandervoort-Barney Art Collection."
Missouri Historical Review 93 (January 1999): 165-185. - Penn, Dorothy "George Caleb Bingham's Order No. 11."
Missouri Historical Review 40 (April 1946): 349-357. - Peritore, Laura "The Cartoon Collections at the State Historical Society."
Missouri Historical Review 73 (April 1979): 363-377. - Pfening, Fred, III "William P. Hall."
Missouri Historical Review 62 (April 1968): 286-313. - Priddy, Bob "The Taos Connection: New Mexico Art in Missouri's Capitol."
Missouri Historical Review 79 (January 1985): 143-166. - Rieger, Nelson A. "Odyssey to an Authentication: A George Caleb Bingham Colorado Landscape."
Missouri Historical Review 85 (April 1991): 237-263.
"Western America: Landscapes and Indians: An Exhibition."
Missouri Historical Review 88 (July 1994): 367-396. - Rollins, C. B. "Some Recollections of George Caleb Bingham."
Missouri Historical Review 20 (July 1926): 463-484. - Saum, Lewis O. "Eugene Field and Theater: The Missouri Years."
Missouri Historical Review 95 (January 2001): 159-181. - SHS Staff "Charles W. Schwartz: Missouri Wildlife Artist and Author."
Missouri Historical Review 67 (July 1973): 576-584.
"Commemorating George Caleb Bingham: An Exhibit."
Missouri Historical Review 73 (July 1979): 407-425.
"Thomas Hart Benton's Original Illustrations for Mark Twain Classics."
Missouri Historical Review 75 (July 1981): 385-395.
"The Contemporary Artists Exhibition."
Missouri Historical Review 68 (October 1973): 28-54.
"The Contemporary Artists Exhibition."
Missouri Historical Review 70 (October 1975): 55-86. - Smith, Joe E. "Early Movies and Their Impact on Columbia."
Missouri Historical Review 74 (October 1979): 72-85. - Squires, Monas N. "Commemorating George Caleb Bingham: An Exhibit."
Missouri Historical Review 73 (July 1979): 407-425.
"Henry Lewis and His Mammoth Panorama of the Mississippi River."
Missouri Historical Review 27 (April 1933): 244-256.
"Merry-Making in Missouri in the Old Days."
Missouri Historical Review 28 (January 1934): 91-102. - Stack, Joan, Introduction "'That's What a Real Editorial Cartoon Is': An Exploration of Cartooning and Political Culture with Jules Feiffer and Tom Engelhardt."
Missouri Historical Review 109 (April 2015): 158-178. - Swift, Mary Grace "St. Louis's Resident Ballet Company: 1852."
Missouri Historical Review 72 (January 1978): 121-135. - Valier, Charles E. "George Caleb Bingham and the Disputed Missouri House Race of 1846: A New Interpretation of the Artist's Election Paintings."
Missouri Historical Review 111 (July 2017): 235-258. - Windell, Marie George "As Benton Sees the War."
Missouri Historical Review 39 (July 1945): 460-467. - Withers, Robert Steele "Singing."
Missouri Historical Review 50 (July 1956): 381-386. - Wright, Bonnie "Julius Strauss and the Art of Photography."
Missouri Historical Review 73 (July 1979): 451-462.
"'This Perpetual Shadow-Taking': The Lively Art of John Fitzgibbon."
Missouri Historical Review 76 (October 1981): 22-30. - Yeshilada, Susan "Andrew Tau: Missouri Photographer."
Missouri Historical Review 82 (January 1988): 165-178.
"Daniel R. Fitzpatrick: A Missouri Cartoonist."
Missouri Historical Review 83 (January 1989): 177-186.
Catalog
Many of the State Historical Society’s holdings are included in the SHSMO online catalog. The State Historical Society holds numerous books on the history of performance and visual art in Missouri, the Midwest, and the United States. Use the term “arts.” For a more specific search, simply add the subject term “Missouri” to your search (use the Advanced Search mode).
Digital Collections
The Art Digital Collection consists of over 12,000 works of art in a variety of media ranging from paintings and drawings to editorial cartoons and lithographs. The collection focuses on images of Missouri, works by Missouri artists, and works related to westward expansion. Of particular importance are over fifty paintings, drawings, and prints by George Caleb Bingham and over 300 paintings and drawings by Thomas Hart Benton. Works by John James Audubon, Karl Bodmer, Frank Nuderscher, and Fred Shane are also well represented. Digital images for a small portion of the art collection may be viewed online.
Editorial Cartoons
The Society’s collection of editorial cartoons was started in 1946 with an important donation of works by Pulitzer Prize-winning artist Daniel F. Fitzpatrick. The collection continues to grow, with over 8,000 works from Bill Mauldin, Tom Engelhardt, and many others.
The works graphically and often poignantly reflect the attitudes and opinions of the artists and the citizens of Missouri from the early days of the twentieth century through World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, and up to the present.
Historic Missourian Biographies
The State Historical Society’s Historic Missourians website provides biographies of artists and entertainers in Missouri. Each biography includes images, primary resources, and other references for further study.
Manuscripts
The State Historical Society of Missouri’s manuscript collections contain primary source materials related to art and artists.