William Josiah Brickey

William Josiah Brickey traveled in 1847 to Arrow Rock on the Missouri River, where he met the famous painter George Caleb Bingham. Bingham gave the younger artist permission to copy several of his paintings, and Brickey later remembered that he “had no idea of the great benefit it would be to me.” After this encounter, Brickey turned to painting scenes of daily life in his home state. Unlike many artists who aspired to careers in New York, Brickey followed his mentor’s lead and chose to plant himself firmly in Missouri. He traveled throughout the state looking for subject matter, and eventually settled in St. Louis. The last year of his life was spent in Natchez, Mississippi, and New Orleans, where he died. (Barter, Currents of Expansion: Painting in the Midwest, 1820-1940, 1977)