Stories Behind the Portraits: James Sidney Rollins

James Sidney Rollins was George Caleb Bingham‘s “warmest personal friend.”  This re-discovered Bingham portrait descended in the Rollins family to a great-granddaughter who had always been told it was the work of an unknown artist.  She wanted the people of Missouri to have it.  When the painting arrived in the Midwest, I immediately recognized the artist as George Caleb Bingham.  Other experts and …