Memorial Portrait Commission

Shelly Kaye’s portrait was commissioned by her husband for permanent display in the Jewish Social Service Agency’s Ina Kaye Building, named in honor of her late mother. Although the portrait would ultimately hang in a public setting, the commission began as something much more personal: a husband’s desire to honor the memory of the woman he considered his soulmate.

The portrait was created from photographs taken on Shelly’s wedding day. As is often the case with posthumous portrait commissions, no single photograph contained all of the information necessary to create a successful painting. Marvin combined multiple images in order to construct a portrait that felt both convincing and true to the spirit of the sitter.

What attracted Marvin to the wedding photographs was not simply their usefulness as reference material, but the expression they revealed. Shelly’s smile did not appear posed or forced. Instead, it reflected the contentment and quiet joy of someone completely at peace with the life she had chosen.

Throughout the painting process, Marvin sought to preserve that feeling. The resulting portrait was intended not only to capture Shelly’s appearance, but also the warmth, happiness, and sense of fulfillment evident in the photographs from that special day.

For Marvin, successful posthumous portraiture involves more than assembling reference material. It requires finding the qualities that made a person memorable and ensuring those qualities remain present in the finished work. In Shelly’s case, that quality was the genuine happiness reflected in her expression—a happiness that continues to welcome visitors to the building that bears her family’s name.