From the Vault: Mystery Portrait

By Eilene Lyon

The mystery about this portrait isn’t “Who,” but all the other Ws and Hs of inquiry. The subject is my mother, Sylvia Jean (Smith) Halse (1936–2023).

It’s been a little over two years since Mom died. My brother and I were just hours too late getting to Oregon for a final goodbye. But we took care of the arrangements, had a private viewing at the funeral home, and ensured that her wishes were carried out. She had prearranged the burial of her cremains and bought a headstone.

Mom never owned much. What she did have dwindled precipitously as she moved from a regular apartment to a smaller one at the retirement community, then briefly to assisted living, and permanently to the memory care unit.

I was never there for the moves, so I don’t know what happened to many of her possessions that should have gone to family, such as her guitar and violin, and a quilt I made for her. I suspect that as her memory faded and owning things became less important, people asked her for these things (or she offered them) and she gladly gave them away.

After we finished at the funeral home, brother and I cleared out her room in memory care. Some items we left to be donated to the resale store on site. I had previously removed things such as her photo albums and important papers (so they wouldn’t get thrown away by accident). Among her belongings was this portrait, rolled up in pink and white papers.

By the time Mom wrote this note on the pink cover, she had obviously forgotten the time and circumstances of its creation. When, where, and why was it painted? How (sitting or from a photo) and by whom? The backing is canvas, such as is used with oil and acrylic paints, but which type is it? Did it have some particular purpose? Was there an associated special event in her life? Why was it never framed and hung?

Mom’s face does look quite young in the portrait, but the hairstyle looks late 60s to me. There are crows feet around the eyes, too. I have a few pictures showing her with the bangs, and I remember how she teased her hair in back to give it a puffy look. What I don’t recall is ever seeing this portrait until after her death. And no one remains to tell its story.

Update, December 1, 2025:

In looking for some other photographs, I came across the one the painting was based on. It bears the date Feb 1966. We lived in Richmond, Virginia, at the time. This was taken about a month before Mom’s 30th birthday. Perhaps that occasion was the reason the painting was done. It still does not tell me who painted it or why it was never framed and displayed.