Women's Portrait Commission

After seeing his completed portrait, Stephen Fishback asked Marvin if it would be possible for him to create a painting of his mother as a young woman.

Initially, the project presented a challenge. Stephen had provided numerous photographs, but none were particularly suitable as portrait references. Many were snapshots taken at the beach, others suffered from poor lighting, and several captured expressions that Marvin felt would not translate well into a formal painted portrait. There was, however, a faded sepia-toned high school graduation portrait taken in 1930 that, despite having deteriorated considerably over time, possessed a relatively neutral expression and lighting that made it the strongest candidate for the head.

The next challenge involved determining how Sylvia should be presented. While it would have been possible to recreate the fashions of 1930 exactly, Marvin felt that doing so would result in a portrait that appeared overly tied to a particular era. Instead, he drew inspiration from a group of artists he greatly admires, particularly the Boston painters William McGregor Paxton and Joseph Rodefer DeCamp. These artists combined academic realism with a heightened sensitivity to color and light, often depicting women in elegant Eastern garments within beautifully arranged interiors.

Marvin proposed a similar approach to Stephen, who enthusiastically embraced the idea. Through a mutual acquaintance, access was arranged to a home filled with Eastern artwork and decorative objects. Nearly every element appearing in the portrait came from that collection. Marvin rearranged the furnishings to create the composition he envisioned and then searched New York’s Chinatown for clothing that would feel appropriate within the spirit of the painting.

Although the portrait began with a faded graduation photograph, the painting itself was built largely from direct observation. Finding the right model proved to be a project in itself. Marvin spent nearly a year searching for someone with a similar build and enough resemblance to Sylvia to make the final image believable. The search finally ended when he met a young woman at his son’s high school graduation party who possessed many of the qualities he had been looking for.

The model was photographed wearing the selected dress within the carefully arranged interior setting. The furnishings, clothing, model, and environment were all photographed specifically for the project, allowing Marvin to control the lighting, composition, and relationships between the various elements. The greatest challenge was integrating the head from the original photograph with the newly created setting in a way that felt completely natural and believable.

The portrait remained a surprise until its unveiling. When Sylvia first saw it, she immediately responded, “I was never that beautiful.” Her older sister, who was present at the gathering, replied without hesitation, “Yes, you were.”

For Marvin, this portrait was the result of his ability to recognize possibilities, solve visual problems, and bring together disparate elements in service of a single unified vision.