As the United States turns 250, the Saint Louis Art Museum looks at how the young republic learned to picture itself. ‘Picturing Independence,’ on view through January 24, 2027, gathers paintings, prints and images from the founding era and beyond — the portraits, landscapes and historical scenes through which Americans first imagined their nation.
The exhibition pairs beautifully with the museum’s permanent American galleries, where Missouri’s own George Caleb Bingham painted democracy at work on the frontier — voters, flatboatmen and stump speakers rendered with a citizen-artist’s eye. Together they trace a line from the republic’s first self-portraits to its westward expansion, with St. Louis sitting at the hinge of the story.
History lovers: this and the Old Courthouse make a perfect 250th pairing.
‘Picturing Independence’ is at the Saint Louis Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Drive. Details at slam.org.
