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George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879), self-portrait of the artist, St. Louis Art Museum. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

George Caleb Bingham portraits adorn Kan. courthouse

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879), self-portrait of the artist, St. Louis Art Museum. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879), self-portrait of the artist, St. Louis Art Museum. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) – A renovation project breathed new life into the Jackson County Truman Courthouse in Independence, but it was the acquisition of several paintings by a 19th century Missouri artist that makes the face-lift truly remarkable, Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders said.

The portraits of three judges are among 27 works by George Caleb Bingham that hang in several second-floor rooms that have been transformed into an art gallery, The Kansas City Star reported. Most of the paintings are owned by Ken McClain, an Independence lawyer and developer.

“Bingham is recognized as a national treasure, but his Jackson County roots are not focused on that frequently,” McClain said of the artist, who maintained a studio in his Independence home, later served as a Kansas City police commissioner and is buried in Union Cemetery. “I thought the courthouse would be an appropriate place for a museum dedicated to him.”

Sanders worked with McClain to set aside space during renovations for the gallery. Ceiling-mounted pendant lamps that harken back to the courthouse’s 1933 renovation hang alongside track lighting, and long blinds have been installed on the windows to protect the paintings, some of which are about 150 years old.

“Ken’s vision has moved the courthouse renovation from a great project to an incredible one, increasing its value exponentially,” Sanders said. “Visitors will come here from all over the country.”

The nonprofit museum will be administered by its own board of directors. The Bingham pieces make up the museum’s principal holdings, while other works are on loan from the State Historical Society of Missouri and the Jackson County Historical Society.

Bingham started painting around 1830 and often earned his living by doing portraits. His other works include paintings such as The Jolly Flatboatmen and The County Election.

McClain started collecting Bingham portraits about eight years ago, including some that had been handed down by generations and didn’t always receive the best care.

Patricia Moss, a Washington state fine arts investigator who grew up in Kansas City, helped McClain track down a Bingham portrait of 19th century Kansas City banker Thomas Hoyle Mastin, who also was an investor in The Kansas City Times.

Moss found the portrait in 2007 in a Texas Gulf Coast antique shop operated by the wife of a family descendant and her business partner.

The business partner, who hadn’t liked the painting, had it taken down and put into a storeroom. Various objects placed on the canvas resulted in a gash in the portrait’s lower left-hand corner.

A Minneapolis conservator restored the Mastin portrait, which hangs in the new museum along with before-and-after images that illustrate the painting’s rescue and restoration.

McClain said he is fulfilling the wishes of Bingham, who believed the appreciation of fine art shouldn’t be reserved for those who can afford to own it.

“Bingham’s paintings need to be seen, not be hidden away in basements,” he said.

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Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-09-14-13 1727GMT

ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE

George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879), self-portrait of the artist, St. Louis Art Museum. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879), self-portrait of the artist, St. Louis Art Museum. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
'The County Election' by George Caleb Bingham, which is said to depict an election in 1850 in Saline County, Mo. St. Louis Art museum, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
‘The County Election’ by George Caleb Bingham, which is said to depict an election in 1850 in Saline County, Mo. St. Louis Art museum, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.