Pet Portrait Painting

Petersburg plays role in art mystery of Governor's Mansion

RICHMOND - One of the great mysteries of the art collection inside the Governor's Mansion is solved - and it traces back to Petersburg.

For decades, no one knew the identity or the artist of a prominent painting commonly referred to as "Portrait of A Boy and His Dog." Yesterday, the Virginia Executive Mansion and the Library of Virginia revealed that the subject of the painting was a Petersburg soldier killed in 1864 during the Civil War and the artwork was given to Virginia from the estate of a Petersburg woman in 1977.

The portrait is the work of George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879), a well known artist from Missouri with Virginia roots. More than three decades ago, it was deeded to the mansion by the estate of Martha Spottswood of Petersburg.

The man in the portrait is Colin Dunlop, a man who was born in Petersburg in 1836 and was killed in battle during the Civil War in 1864.

The George Caleb Bingham Catalogue Raisonne Supplement of Paintings & Drawings has confirmed the authentication. Earlier this year, Richmond art and antiques dealer Alexander Reeves suggested during a private tour that the portrait resembled other works that he had seen by Bingham.

In March, this attribution was confirmed by Fred R. Kline, director and editor of the George Caleb Bingham Catalogue Raisonne Supplement Ltd. in Santa Fe, N.M. In a letter to Tom Camden, director for special collections and acting state art curator for the Library of Virginia, Kline states that "There is no doubt in my mind that 'Portrait of Colin Dunlop and His Dog' was clearly painted by George Caleb Bingham" in all likelihood during six months of 1841, when he was in Petersburg.

"This is a delightful, memorable, and endearing portrait of a boy and his dog, Bingham's first in this rare genre for him," Camden said. "Colin with his red-striped blouse and his striking, seemingly protective dog on a chain are doubtless made from life. The portrait has become one of my personal favorites."

As the painting was previously unrecorded, Camden said that he it could be classified as a new discovery.

The artist was born in Augusta County, Va., in 1811 and was 8 years old when he moved with his family to Franklin, Mo., in 1819. The vast majority of Bingham's over 500 recorded paintings are not signed, including famous ones like "Fur Traders Descending the Missouri.

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Nationally recognized award winning Mike Callahan is a fourth generation Nevada native who counts himself priviledged to grow up in what believes to be the most beautiful places on earth. the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains near Reno, Nevada where he still lives today. While he has been painting since childhood, he has only been painting in earnst for about the last 5 to 6 years.