Patricia Moss: The Bingham Lady
Patricia Moss is the “Bingham Lady.” An art history librarian gave her the nickname over 20 years ago, when she first began locating more than 80 “lost” George Caleb Bingham portraits. She has found over 70. When the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art reported on the success of her work, they entitled the article, “The Bingham Lady.”
Moss presented the inaugural Geist-Yancey Fine Arts Lecture at Central Methodist University (CMU) in Fayette, Missouri, located a few miles from Bingham’s home in Arrow Rock, Missouri. CMU will be the repository for all her work on George Caleb Bingham. She also lectured in Augusta County, Virginia, George Caleb Bingham’s early childhood home.
Moss helped curate the Bingham Bicentennial Exhibit, Steamboats to Steam Engines: George Caleb Bingham’s Missouri, 1819-1879, at the Truman Presidential Library (March 10 – September 8, 2011). Two years later, she curated the opening / permanent exhibit at the Truman Courthouse in Independence, Missouri, George Caleb Bingham: Witness to History.
Moss is devoted to preserving the integrity of the Missouri Artist’s legacy. She enjoys all aspects of her work, from authenticating to advising on conservation to brokering sales to her favorite occupation, telling the stories behind the portraits.
As the number of lost Bingham portraits decreased and her knowledge of other artists who are lesser known and possibly unjustly forgotten increased, she expanded her work. One portrait in particular transfixed her, Dorothy Sulger Kelly, painted by Bass Otis in 1822 in Philadelphia. The stories behind the portrait turned into a book, Dorothy Sulger Kelly: Her Life and Family: An Illustrated Incomplete History of the United States Through Family Stories.
Patricia Moss: The Bingham Lady 