Re-created painting of admiral hangs in Town Hall
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Local artist Ed Turner (front) is on hand when his painting of Admiral Louis Emil Denfeld is hung in Town Hall March 11 by Westborough employees (l to r) Frank Cornine and Dan LaRoche. PHOTO/KEN POWERS

Westborough - Admiral Louis Emil Denfeld is back where he belongs.

The admiral, who was born, lived and died in Westborough, was chief of Naval Operations for the U.S. Navy from 1947 to 1949 and commanded the destroyer USS McCall during World War I.

Denfeld was recently honored with the hanging of a second portrait of his likeness, which was painted by former Westborough resident Ed Turner, who manages the Art and Frame Emporium.

"It was such an honor to be involved in this," Turner said. "I had a great time doing it. It had been years since I painted with oils, and it was such a diff erent process, I felt like I was back in school again, working on my first big project."

Years ago, to honor native son Denfeld, Westborough commissioned a painting of the admiral in his full dress uniform. The artwork hung in Town Hall for many years, but at some point was replaced by a portrait of George Washington.

When the switch was made, the painting of Denfeld was stored haphazardly in a back room in Town Hall, too close to a heating unit, which accelerated its aging process.

In addition to the premature weathering of the portrait, the frame was also in a state of great disrepair. Despite what Turner now perceived as two daunting tasks, reconditioning both the painting and the frame, he was up for the challenge.

While Jean Pellerin, who works with Turner at the Art and Frame Emporium, got to work on restoring the frame, Turner began mulling over what options he had regarding the restoration of the painting itself.

While the Historical Commission viewed the resuscitation of the Denfeld painting as a restoration, the more Turner examined the artwork, the more he saw that it needed to be re-created.

"The more I looked at it, the more I realized that it was going to take me nearly as long to restore it, and the chances of having it come all the way back and look like its original form was not 100 percent," Turner said. "I thought it would serve the town better if I just repainted it as a whole new painting for the town, using the first one as my guide."

The painting, which Turner said took about six months to create, was finished in late November 2007, with the frame being finished in mid- December. The project had added significance to Turner because, having grown up in town, he remembers many trips to Town Hall.

"There was a lot of pride for me in getting a chance to do this," Turner said. "As a young art student it's the type of thing you look at and dream that maybe you'll get the chance to do something like that someday. To be recognized by my hometown as an artist worthy to be entrusted with a project like this, it's just an indescribable feeling."