One of Ron Marlett's earlier portrait commissions was the Scott Newhall
piece commissioned by Ron's niece and her husband Dave Newhall. Scott
Newhall was Dave's grandfather and a direct descendent of Henry Mayo
Newhall who was one of the first railroad and land developers in 19th
century California. Scott Newhall was the editor of the San Francisco
Chronicle, and later, the owner and editor of the Newhall Signal
newspaper. Scott Newhall was remembered as a jovial person, but Ron
chose to paint him as a serious man who wrote editorials that slammed
racism, bigotry, and political conservatism. Ron created an
asymmetrical balance by offsetting the face and adding a curtain in the
background. The curtain and jacket lapel creates a strong diagonal line
across the pictorial space. The gold button cover is one of three
Mexican coins that Scott bought and had made into a cufflink set.Return to Gallery |
