The American Experiment, in All Its Glory and Absurdity
The painting is at once a celebration of American self-government and a wry acknowledgment of its imperfections.
George Caleb Bingham, The County Election (1852). Courtesy of the Saint Louis Art Museum. Public domain.
Before television debates, political consultants and carefully choreographed campaigns, American democracy was conducted on courthouse steps, among farmers, merchants, immigrants and the occasional drunkard. George Caleb Bingham, himself a veteran of Missouri politics, captured the spectacle in this wonderfully crowded portrait of an American election.
Revolutionary War veterans and newly arrived immigrants mingle as candidates press for votes, while one unfortunate citizen is hauled bodily toward the polls. The painting is at once a celebration of American self-government and a wry acknowledgment of its imperfections.
