Chris, I can't recall if he had an Art Students League connection. He did have a connection of some kind to Joan Blumenthal, who may have recommended the painting to Frank O'C. I knew Hertle in the 70s when we both lived in New York, within walking distance of each other, but I haven't been in touch with him recently. In the only web reference I could find, the late Stephen Speicher wrote: "...a magnificent young Objectivist artist, Ralph Hertle, who, sadly, gave up painting twenty-five years ago. His work, Until Now, is on my office wall (Ayn Rand had the original painting)..." From here. As I recall, Hertle saw industrial design as his main profession. Now I want to visit Brazil, to see what Michael is talking about. The geography of the painting also roughly resembles a view of downtown Chicago from the northern lakefront. Hertle had lived in Chicago at one time also, although I did not know him then.