Almost 175 years after their marriage ceremony, Dr. John and Marguerite Wadin McKay McLoughlin finally have their wedding portrait.
Tom Relth created the image of the happy couple in a painting he titled “Hypothetical Marriage Portrait.”
It is one of 10 works of art that will get a two-month showing at the Fort Vancouver Visitor Center, opposite the east end of Officers Row. The display celebrates the centennial year of the National Park Service and will be shown through the end of 2016.
The portrait by Relth also represents another sort of coming together for the McLoughlins. To create the painting, Relth had to join two separate images of John and Marguerite.
During the inquiry phase of Relth’s project, he visited with Theresa Langford, curator at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. He received copies of several drawings and daguerreotypes of John McLoughlin, who ran the Hudson’s Bay Company’s operation here from 1825 to 1846.
The Fort Vancouver artifact collection also has an early photographic image of Marguerite McLoughlin.
However, “There seems to be no portrait or photograph of the two of them together,” said Relth, whose studio is at Boomerang — a downtown thrift store that also is a coffee shop, philanthropic center and art showcase.
“My work was laid out for me,” Relth said. “I was required to use two high-resolution daguerreotypes at different scales and lighting to ‘marry’ them together in this ‘Hypothetical Marriage Portrait.'”
With the help of Photoshop, he was able to rescale and configure the two people so they appear to have been photographed together. That still left a significant technical problem.
“The lighting on each of the daguerreotypes was completely different. By photographing my own wife in light similar to the John McLoughlin daguerreotype, I was able to adjust the light and shadow on the portrait of Marguerite.”
The exhibit was curated by artist and educator Maureen Montague, who invited professional artists from the Vancouver area to create original two-dimensional works of art inspired by their experiences at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. Participating artists toured the park and drew inspiration from Fort Vancouver and artifacts in its museum collection.
Montague has two paintings in the display; Cynthia Heise also has two paintings. Erin Dengerink has two mixed-media pieces. The collection includes a photo by Christine Eagon, a portrait by Pepper Toelle Kim, a painting by Sharri LaPierre and the portrait by Relth.
The exhibit opens Friday with a reception at the Fort Vancouver Visitor Center from 5 to 7 p.m., as part of Vancouver’s First Friday Downtown.
