Governor Brian Sandoval

This is the official portrait of Nevada State Governor Brian Sandoval.  A former Nevada Attorney General and Federal district judge, he has also served on the Gaming Commission of Nevada, Nevada Legislative Commission, the Advisory Commission on Sentencing, the Juvenile Justice Commission, and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Oversight Committee.  Brian Sandoval is Nevada’s 29th governor and has served in that position from 2011 – 2019.

Gottlieb learned from speaking with Governor Sandoval that one of his greatest heroes and models in the history of American leadership was Abraham Lincoln. As it happened, Gottlieb had brought to the final selection meeting with him a portfolio of inspirational portraits, and among them was a photograph of Lincoln that he had always found compelling. It’s an older and scarred Lincoln, caught in a moment of deep reflection. Gottlieb was able to find in that source, that same sense of genuineness combined with a charisma that also very much appealed to the Governor. Governor Sandoval and Gottlieb decided to make that the touchstone of the project.

Governor Sandoval met Gottlieb’s need to paint him from life for sixty hours, a factor that played predominantly in the Governor’s ultimate decision to choose Gottlieb for the job of painting his portrait.