A flatboat with eight light-skinned men floats toward us down a wide river in this horizontal painting. The boat nearly spans the width of the composition and has low sides and a shallowly arched, low cabin upon which the men gather. At the center, a man with dark hair and wearing light blue trousers and a pink shirt dances with one foot and both arms raised. To our right a seated musician plays a fiddle, and to our left a smiling man holds up a metal pot and strikes the flat bottom with the back of his fingers. The remaining men sit or recline around the musicians and dancing man, some looking toward the dancer and two looking out at us. Bedrolls and animal skins are stored in the cabin below. The olive-green surface of the river is streaked with pale blue. The horizon line comes about a third of the way up the composition. The trees and riverbanks in the distance are hazy beneath a watery blue sky.

The Jolly Flatboatmen

George Caleb Bingham

A flatboat with eight light-skinned men floats toward us down a wide river in this horizontal painting. The boat nearly spans the width of the composition and has low sides and a shallowly arched, low cabin upon which the men gather. At the center, a man with dark hair and wearing light blue trousers and a pink shirt dances with one foot and both arms raised. To our right a seated musician plays a fiddle, and to our left a smiling man holds up a metal pot and strikes the flat bottom with the back of his fingers. The remaining men sit or recline around the musicians and dancing man, some looking toward the dancer and two looking out at us. Bedrolls and animal skins are stored in the cabin below. The olive-green surface of the river is streaked with pale blue. The horizon line comes about a third of the way up the composition. The trees and riverbanks in the distance are hazy beneath a watery blue sky.

Colors in this work

Details
Artist
George Caleb Bingham
Date
1846
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 96.8 x 123.2 cm (38 1/8 x 48 1/2 in.) framed: 116.8 x 143.8 x 10.5 cm (46 x 56 5/8 x 4 1/8 in.)
Department
CAB
Holding institution
National Gallery of Art
Palette

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Image provider
national-gallery-of-art
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Patrons' Permanent Fund

Art Genome Taxonomy

7 tags

Subject Matter

  • Waterscapes Both · 99%

    The image shows a wide river with wooded banks, and the catalog identifies the setting as a flatboat floating down a wide river.

  • Modes of Transportation Both · 99%

    A large flatboat dominates the composition and carries the figures downriver.

  • Performing Arts Both · 99%

    The central figure dances, a seated musician plays a fiddle, and another man accompanies the music with a metal pot.

  • Leisure Both · 95%

    The title and visible dancing and music establish a social scene of recreation and entertainment aboard the boat.

  • Movement Visual · 98%

    The central dancer’s raised arms and lifted foot, along with the active poses of the musicians, make bodily and musical motion prominent.

Medium and Techniques

  • Oil Painting Metadata · 100%

    The National Gallery of Art identifies the medium as oil on canvas.

Time Periods

  • 19th Century Art Metadata · 99%

    The catalog dates the work to 1846, placing it in the nineteenth century.

Source & rights

George Caleb Bingham. The Jolly Flatboatmen. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.

High-resolution sources

Catalog record ↗ Image source ↗ Image license ↗ Image-use terms ↗ Catalog metadata terms ↗

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