More than 50 years ago, Melvin Belli faced an enormous task: Defending Jack Ruby, the Dallas nightclub owner who on camera assassinated Lee Harvey Oswald, the killer of President John F. Kennedy.

For artist Howard Brodie, it was the chance of a lifetime. “I flew to Dallas to draw the assassin of the assassin of President Kennedy,” he said.

While that was true, Brodie also sketched a California lawyer who was as much a colorful showman as an orator.

“He swept in, the inner folds of his dark coat aglow with red lining,” he said.

Artist Elizabeth Williams saw television footage of the verdict being read and was enthralled by Brodie’s approach.

“It was probably not more than a minute or two, yet he captured Ruby’s mood and his fear. Do you know how amazing that is?” she said.