Oil Portrait of General Omar N. Bradley

        General Omar Nelson Bradley                                        "The Soldiers General"

General Omar Bradley  32 x 26 oil on linen

 "Leadership means firmness, not harshness or bullying; understanding, not weakness; justice, not irresponsible freedom; humaneness, not intolerance; generosity, not selfishness; pride, not egotism." Omar N. Bradley

"We live in a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants, in a world that has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. We have solved the mystery of the atom and forgotten the lessons of the Sermon on the Mount. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about dying than we know about living." Omar N. Bradley

 

These words are so  pertinent for the world we are living in today. Where are the leaders?

Omar Bradley was a true leader and as you can see from his above quotes, he was a man of quality and insight.

 

I was inspired to paint this portrait of  Omar Nelson Bradley to honor a man of such integrity and conviction. He is an inspiration! 

 

The portrait shows  him in his office with a map of the D-Day invasion in the back wall. I based the portrait on a Library of Congress photograph and then made some changes to the composition.

 

 

 

Omar Nelson Bradley (February 12, 1893 - April 8, 1981) was a  United States Army field commander and a senior officer of the United States Army in North Africa and Europe during World War II.  As a decorated 5 Star General of the U.S. Army, he was called "The Soldiers General" because for his care and sensitivity towards the enlisted men under his command.

From the Normandy landings through the end of the war in Europe, Bradley had command of all U.S. ground forces invading Germany from the west; he ultimately commanded forty-three divisions and 1.3 million men, the largest body of American soldiers ever to serve under a U.S. field commander.

After the war, Bradley headed the Veterans Administration and became the Chief of Staff of the United States Army. In 1949, he was appointed the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the following year oversaw the policy-making for the Korean War, before retiring from active service in 1953.

Close up of Portrait Image

Reference photo for Portrait

To see more of my portraiture please visit my website:

www.SusanDurkee.com

Commission to paint the Official portrait of Robert J. Lynn, Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court

I was recently contacted by Robert J. Lynn, the Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court to paint his official portrait.....what a great honor!

I traveled to Concord New Hampshire to meet with the Chief Justice in the stately New Hampshire Supreme Court, and to discuss his portrait.

This  was doubly exciting for me because my ancestors were early settlers of New Hampshire in the 1600's. My relative, the colorful, Reverend Stephen Bachiler founded (New) Hampton New Hampshire in 1638-9.  http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/biog/bachilertoc.htm

It was a delight to meet with the Chief Justice. He was warm, compassionate and engaging.

We decided that we were going to work from a sitting pose, so I took a  selection of photographs of the Chief Justice in a beautiful Hitchcock Chair in front of the paneled wall and green marble fireplace in his elegant office.
After  reviewing the photographs together we selected a perfect main photograph to use as the reference for the portrait. I usually work from a number of photographs for a oil portrait, but this one was a winner!

Now,  my work, for the Official portrait of the Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, was ready to start.

About 7 months later I contacted the Chief Justice and presented an email image of his portrait for his review....he was delighted with the portrait!  Here was his response upon seeing his portrait:

"The portrait looks fabulous!  I am very pleased – you are wonderfully talented and I thank you so much for your work". Robert J. Lynn

 Robert J. Lynn, Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, oil on linen 36 x 28

Collection New Hampshire Supreme Court

 The Chief Justice and his lovely and dynamic wife Dina, visited my Studio shortly thereafter to see the portrait in real time viewing...it was a very happy and exciting day!

The Chief Justice and the artist in front of his Official portrait in the Lobster Pot Studio

Reference photo for the Official portrait of the Chief Justice

 

 

 To see more of my classic traditional portraiture please visit:  www.SusanDurkee.com