An Ottumwa painting from years ago has found its way down south.

Kitty Heyrman of Marietta, Ga., told us that she purchased a painting by Newton Roberts at a church auction.

The painting of a seashore has the inscription on a brass plaque: “Painted and presented to the Ottumwa Courier by Newton Roberts in memory of John Huston and Clarence Johnston.”

Heyrman wrote asking for some information. What I could tell her is that Huston was a longtime publisher of the Courier, and Johnston was editor at the Courier at one time. Both men were gone by the time I arrived in 1966.

Initially, Heyrman said that she “felt duped” because the 29-by-38-inch frame was in bad shape.

Then she got on the Internet and found information about Ottumwa artist Newton Roberts who at one time had a studio across the street from the Courier. He died in 1974.

Now that she’s found out some information, she said that, “I’m curious to know more.”

According to an Internet site, Roberts was from Indiana. He graduated from Baker University studied sociology at Columbia University and received a master’s degree from Iowa Wesleyan College. He was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1912 and practiced law with his father’s firm.

He also was Wapello County attorney in 1919 and 1923. He was known as one of the county’s most respected lawyers. Taking up painting in 1930, Roberts’ hobby grew to a serious past-time.

In 1932, he attended the first session of the Stone City art colony and exhibited his first significant work, “Self-Portrait,” at a 1932 Iowa Federate Women’s Club competition. In 1937, he completed “Smoke Stacks,” an Ottumwa scene set at the local power plant and drawn on rough cardboard. This painting won honors in the annual, Iowa Federated Women’s Clubs competition and joined a Five State Exhibition at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Neb. He showed his work at the Des Moines Art Center, the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and at the Ottumwa Art Center. Roberts’ paintings also had featured roles in exhibits at the Denver (Colo.) Art Museum, the Nelson Gallery in Kansas City, Kan., and the City Art Museum in St. Louis, Mo. After retiring from his law practice, he developed a personal studio over his home’s garage.

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