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[[newspaper clipping]] ^[[What next?!]] TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 1965. THE NEW [[cut off]] [[image: black and white photograph of a billboard showing "The BLUE BOY with an image of the famous painting by "Thomas Gainsborough"]] NO MESSAGE FROM THE SPONSOR: The copy of the Gainsborough painting on this billboard at Secaucus, N.J., was painted by Robert M. Turner, his last before retiring. ----- Art in Secaucus: 'The Blue Boy' Scorns Route 3 From a Billboard ----- Special to The New York Times SECAUCUS, N. J., Jan. 18--Master Jonathon Buttall--clad in Van Dyck costume, plumed hat in hand--stands in the swamps of Secaucus, N.J. and looks down on thousands of Route 3 motorists. Master Buttall, better known as "The Blue Boy," was the subject of the famous 18th century portrait by Thomas Gainsborough. He is now the subject of a Secaucus billboard. The billboard is the work of Robert M. Turner of Caldwell, N.J. It was his final project the O'Mealia Outdoor Advertising Corporation of Jersey City. Mr. turner, who is 67 years old, retired Dec. 18 after 40 years as a sign painter and painter supervisor. Harry O'Mealia, president of the company, said it planned to reproduce one piece of fine art a year to be posted on vacant boards. 'Helps to Improve Image' "Billboards are the general public's art gallery," he said. "This gives our painters, who have great ability and are artists on their own, a chance to really project what they can do." Moreover, said William G. Herzog, vice president and creative director of the company, the project "helps to improve the public image of the advertising industry." Mr. Turner said he "felt honored to be picked to do 'The Blue Boy.'" "The work itself is pretty much the same," he explained, "but on something like this, you try a little harder. "We didn't have room in the studio to do it all in one piece, so I had to paint it in five sections .I didn't see it all put together until it was up on the location." "The Blue Boy" took Mr. Turner two weeks to paint. He worked from a print that had been authenticated as to color. His painting, 12 feet by 18 1/2 feet, is in oil, covered with varnish. He said it would "withstand one or two years of outdoor weather." The painting has stood on the north side of Route 3, facing west (toward traffic to New York) since Jan. 4. It will be moved to other locations, as they become vacant, so it can be seen by motorists on different highways. The original of "The Blue Boy" is in the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, San Marino, Calif.
