William Bingham McGuinness was born in Ireland in 1849 and was articled to John Skipton Mulvany (1813-1870) in Dublin. During his time with Mulvany, he also attended painting classes at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin and soon realised that painting was his true vocation. Although there is little evidence that he practised architecture after completing his articles, he continued to give 'Architect' as his profession as late as mid-1870s. In 1874 he went to Düsseldorf, Germany to continue his art studies.
McGuinness began exhibiting at the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1866. He later showed his work at the Royal Academy, the Guildhall Art Gallery, Dudley Gallery, and the
Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours in London; the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists; the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool; and at the Water Colour Society of Ireland in Dublin. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Hibernian Academy (ARHA) in 1882, and a full member of the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) in 1884. He was a founder member of the Dublin Sketching Club and was later to be elected its President. In 1884 he was elected a member of the Art Workers Guild. He died in Dublin on 26 July 1928.
Examples of McGuinness's work are in the permanent collections of the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art,in Dublin, Limerick City Art Gallery and Waterford Art Gallery.