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Fayette —
In the young days of Missouri statehood, when pioneers were still moving through to the unexplored West and the future of the United States was increasingly uncertain, artist George Caleb Bingham was busy plying his trade in the Boonslick area of Missouri where he had moved with his family.
In 1845, when he was 34 and had traveled some and made a name for himself as a painter, Bingham was encouraged to return to the Boonslick area to take on a promising young student, his first protégé, a 27-year-old named William Morrison Hughes. For the next five years, the lives of these two artists were inexorably entwined. Their painting styles were, as expected, very similar; their talents compatible; and their passions intense.
However, while Bingham’s passion for art drew him through his entire life, Hughes seemed to have a passion for anything new and different that caught his eye.
William Morrison Hughes was born in Howard County in 1818. In 1828 his family home, Plum Grove, was built and today remains in the Hughes family through Morrene Hughes Britton and her husband, Robert.
Morrison, as he was called, turned to painting and in his twenties decided to pursue it as a career. Bingham was hired as his tutor by Morrison’s uncle, John S. Cleveland. Hughes was clearly an apt student. He followed his mentor to St. Louis in 1846 to one of Bingham’s exhibits. He also modeled for Bingham. In fact, in one version of The Jolly Flatboatmen (1846) by George Caleb Bingham, Hughes is believed to be the man joyously dancing on top of the boat.
Sadly for the art world, Hughes was wildly enthralled not only with art but also with all things new, creative, or adventurous. By later in 1846, Hughes had already run off to fight in the Mexican War. Luckily he survived unscathed and rejoined his mentor. In 1848 Hughes followed Bingham on a steamboat headed down the Missouri River from Boonville to St. Louis. From there the two went to New York to study art.
Apparently the two succeeded in making it to New York, but by 1850 William Morrison Hughes once again abandoned Bingham and headed west in pursuit of other experiences to engage his highly creative but clearly undisciplined spirit. It is believed that Hughes never saw Bingham again; and, in fact, he seems to have permanently stashed his brushes and saddle-bagged his easel.
Hughes meandered from California to Oregon, where he appears to have served briefly in the legislature, and again back to San Francisco. He spent a great deal of time trying unsuccessfully to market various inventions. He died in poverty there in 1892. He never married. He left no progeny. His legacy lies in a handful of Binghamesque paintings, technically and aesthetically pleasing and hard to distinguish from his mentor’s.
In the young days of Missouri statehood, when pioneers were still moving through to the unexplored West and the future of the United States was increasingly uncertain, artist George Caleb Bingham was busy plying his trade in the Boonslick area of Missouri where he had moved with his family.
In 1845, when he was 34 and had traveled some and made a name for himself as a painter, Bingham was encouraged to return to the Boonslick area to take on a promising young student, his first protégé, a 27-year-old named William Morrison Hughes. For the next five years, the lives of these two artists were inexorably entwined. Their painting styles were, as expected, very similar; their talents compatible; and their passions intense.
However, while Bingham’s passion for art drew him through his entire life, Hughes seemed to have a passion for anything new and different that caught his eye.
William Morrison Hughes was born in Howard County in 1818. In 1828 his family home, Plum Grove, was built and today remains in the Hughes family through Morrene Hughes Britton and her husband, Robert.
Morrison, as he was called, turned to painting and in his twenties decided to pursue it as a career. Bingham was hired as his tutor by Morrison’s uncle, John S. Cleveland. Hughes was clearly an apt student. He followed his mentor to St. Louis in 1846 to one of Bingham’s exhibits. He also modeled for Bingham. In fact, in one version of The Jolly Flatboatmen (1846) by George Caleb Bingham, Hughes is believed to be the man joyously dancing on top of the boat.
Sadly for the art world, Hughes was wildly enthralled not only with art but also with all things new, creative, or adventurous. By later in 1846, Hughes had already run off to fight in the Mexican War. Luckily he survived unscathed and rejoined his mentor. In 1848 Hughes followed Bingham on a steamboat headed down the Missouri River from Boonville to St. Louis. From there the two went to New York to study art.
Apparently the two succeeded in making it to New York, but by 1850 William Morrison Hughes once again abandoned Bingham and headed west in pursuit of other experiences to engage his highly creative but clearly undisciplined spirit. It is believed that Hughes never saw Bingham again; and, in fact, he seems to have permanently stashed his brushes and saddle-bagged his easel.
Hughes meandered from California to Oregon, where he appears to have served briefly in the legislature, and again back to San Francisco. He spent a great deal of time trying unsuccessfully to market various inventions. He died in poverty there in 1892. He never married. He left no progeny. His legacy lies in a handful of Binghamesque paintings, technically and aesthetically pleasing and hard to distinguish from his mentor’s.
Although Bingham spent his life enmeshed in art, and politics—and Hughes perhaps half a dozen years painting—their styles are remarkably alike. Art experts still debate whether certain artworks were painted by George Caleb Bingham or his first and arguably most talented pupil, William Morrison Hughes.
The Ashby-Hodge Gallery of American Art is showcasing eight pieces authenticated or believed to belong to the brushstrokes of William Morrison Hughes, some paintings shown for the first time. The Gallery is open Tues.-Thurs. and Sun. from 1:30-4:30 p.m. There is no charge and it is accessible to persons with disabilities. For more information, contact Dr. Joe Geist, Curator of the Gallery, at 660-248-6304.
