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 aniel E. Greene N.A. is one of the leading American portrait and representational painters in both oils and pastels. Born in Ohio in 1936, Greene decided to become a painter at the age of 5 and kept to this decision for the rest of his life. He left high school before graduating in order to pursue a career as a painter and came to New York City to take courses at the Art Students' League, where he subsequently taught courses.
He earned his first money in art, which just managed to cover his basic needs, by drawing sidewalk portraits in Miami Beach and then, after getting out of the Army, in Greenwich Village in New York. Despite the fact that Greenwich Village was the focus of abstract painting in the 50's he decided to master classical painting and used the money he earned with his portraits to support himself while he attended the Art Students League.
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Daniel E. Greene N.A.
Working in his studio |
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Greene's paintings are meticulously representational and he paints from life as much as possible. His paintings and pastels hang in over 500 public and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. While he was in the Army he began painting official persons, first generals in the Army, later Congressman. He has painted numerous members of Congress, both Democratic and Republican, and well-known political figures as disparate as Eleanor Roosevelt and Rush Limbaugh. His own political convictions play no role in his decision to accept a commission for the portrait of a political figure.
In addition to his wealth of portrait works Greene is well known for several series of works including his nudes, paintings of people flying kites, auction scenes and scenes from the New York City subway.
Greene has been the recipient of a large number of prestigious awards, starting with 2 international grants he won in his 20's: the Greenshield's Foundation grant and the Stacy Foundation grant. Later honors include election to the Pastel Hall of Fame of the Pastel Society of America, in 1983; granting of the Lifetime Achievement Award for oil painting from American Artists Magazine in 1992; bestowing of the John Singer Sargent award by the American Society of Portrait Artists in 1995 for his life-long achievements in portraiture; and receipt of the Medal of Honor of the Portrait Society of America in 2001.
Daniel Greene has written works that have become standards on pastel drawing; he has helped develop and endorsed his own line of pastels and oil paints, as well as of brushes. He has taught portrait classes throughout the United States and overseas and offers instructional videos on portraiture, drawing and color.
Today Daniel Greene lives in a rural environment, in New Salem in western New York State, somewhat more than an hour's drive from New York City. He lives there together with his wife, who is also an artist, and they have separate studios. Greene still offers limited private courses in pastel and painting in addition to his books and his instructional videos.
Art Interview: You are originally from Cincinnati Ohio, is that correct?
Daniel E. Greene N.A.: That is correct. I was born in Cincinnati and I knew when I was about five years old that I wanted to be an artist. I remember listening to the radio at that time and drawing what I thought was happening on the various programs. My primary interest when I was growing up, however, was in sports. I was keenly interested in baseball. I thought I would like to be a baseball player but I wasn't really big enough and I knew all the time that I was going to be an artist. When I was in my junior year of high school I concluded that I was not interested in going to college and I was rather anxious to begin studying art. I quit school at the beginning of my senior year and moved to Miami Beach, Florida where my divorced mother lived. My intention was to work for as long as I needed to in Florida at any job I could get, save my money and go to an art school. I took odd jobs, nondescript jobs to support myself. However, I also discovered that there were pastel portrait artists working on the street and in hotels and I became intrigued watching them as part of the crowd. So I went home and practiced working in pastel and drawing portraits, which I was not in any way skilled in at that time. I had not yet gone to art school.
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Daniel E. Greene N.A.
Josh Parrott, 1996
Pastel on Paper
29" x 21"
Private Collection, North Carolina
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Art Interview: How old were you at that time?
Daniel E. Greene N.A.: I was seventeen or eighteen. This was in 1953. My aim was to try to get a job as a portrait artist. The pastel portrait artists were charging five and ten dollars for the pastel portraits that they were doing. I just simply wasn't good enough at the time but one place that was an open front store decided to give me a chance and they hired me to do whatever portraits there were that needed to be done between 9:30 and 12:00 in the morning.
Art Interview: Was this a department store?
Daniel E. Greene N.A.: It was a little open front store that sold portraits. That was an immense event to me in that I recognized that it was the beginning of what I would be devoting my life to which was art, painting. I began to do portraits for five and ten dollars on the street. I did hundreds of them during the time that I was there. When the season began there were tens of thousands of people who materialized. I did pastel portraits all day long. This was before I went to art school. I saved my money from the six or seven months that I did portraits and after sending for a catalog I decided to moved to New York City to go to the Art Students League. At the Art Students League I entered classes by Robert Brackman. In his class I learned things that I simply didn't know existed about painting. I was living hand to mouth at that time. I had odd jobs in New York; working in factories, working as a messenger, working in an art store, anything that I could do to support myself.
Art Interview: Did you receive any support from your family?
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Robert Brackman, N.A.
(1896-1980)
at work in his studio
Peter A. Juley & Son Collection,
Smithsonian American Art Museum
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Robert Brackman, N.A.
(1896-1980)
Somewhere in America,
ca. 1933-1934
oil on canvas
30 1/8 x 25 1/8 in. (76.5 x 63.9 cm)
Smithsonian American Art Museum
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Daniel E. Greene N.A.: No, I had no support from my family. They didn't stand in my way but they were not especially supportive. Nor were they in a position to be supportive. So it was really hand to mouth for me in New York during 1953 and 1954. I won a scholarship at the Art Students League that enabled me to go tuition- free for the second year. But I had to work in the daytime and I went to school at night. Brackman took a rather special interest in me - apparently he recognized the potential I had. Along the way I did whatever portrait commissions I could find. Shortly there after I was drafted into the Army and I managed eventually to be assigned to the Army's art department in the recruiting publicity center, which was on Governors Island in New York. I began doing portraits of various generals and Congressmen and others when they learned that I was an artist. This was in addition to all my other work.
Art Interview: Were you actively seeking these prominent people?
Daniel E. Greene N.A.: No, not at all. When I was in the Army we had to fill out forms indicating what we had done in civilian life and what I had done was to be an artist. When it was learned that I was able to do portraits I was asked by various officers to do portraits of the commanding generals, in addition to all of the other work that I had to do. So that is how that transpired - and there were a few politicians along the way, as well.
In any event, when I got out of the Army after two years I moved to Greenwich Village and I supported myself by doing sidewalk portraits and it was basically a hand to mouth existence. But I always knew it was sink or swim. There wasn't anything else that I was going to do. I continued to paint as much as I could. I tried for two international grants and to my great surprise I won both of them. One was the Greenshields Foundation grant, which is given worldwide to one artist under thirty years of age and the other was the Stacy Foundation grant, which is also to young artists. This was precisely at the beginning of the emergence of abstract painting. I was right in the middle of where American abstract painting began, in the Village, Greenwich Village. I knew a number of the leading lights of the abstract painters of the day from going to the Cedar Bar, which was a popular place for the artists in Greenwich Village. But I consciously made the decision to try to master classical painting. Abstract painting was not challenging enough for me so I deliberately decided the direction my work would take. This was at the beginning of the time when realistic painting was absolutely on the downward path. So it was at a time when there really wasn't very much support for the kind of work that I did.
In any event, after winning these grants, which enabled me to be able to paint uninterruptedly for at least a year living frugally, I produced enough work during that time to become relatively self-sufficient. I started doing portraits; I became affiliated with an excellent gallery in New York called Portraits Inc. I began doing oil portraits and pastels for them and I also became affiliated with various other art galleries in different parts of the country. I was asked to write a book on pastels; actually it was several books on pastels. I began teaching; artists asked me to give them instruction and with the combination of doing portraits, exhibiting paintings and particularly teaching, I was able to become self-sufficient with the work that I was doing. Fundamentally, I have done exactly the same thing ever since then. I have been painting and making my living at painting for more or less 52 years. I began teaching a little later at the National Academy of Design and then at the Art Students League. I was asked to take over my former teacher's classes who had retired - Robert Brackman. So I ended up teaching several classes a week at the Art Students League.
Art Interview: Now, the Art Students League is not an accredited university, is it? The students cannot obtain a Masters of Fine Arts degree there, can they?
Daniel E. Greene N.A.: It is one of the most famous art schools in the world. The art students run the school and virtually every famous American artist has either gone to the Art Students League or been a teacher at the Art Students League. At the Art Students League they have over 50 different classes involving every form of art. It is an amazing institution and they are over 100 years old.
Art Interview: Yes, I believe the Art Students League was founded in 1875 when the National Academy of Design, which is New York's oldest art school, was having financial difficulties and could not pay for instructors. As I understand it, the students then got together and hired proper instructors to come and teach them at their own organization.
Daniel E. Greene N.A.: Yes, that is correct. I taught at the Art Students League for a number of years, I believe it was eight years. As a matter of a fact I still teach at the Art Students League once a year. I also taught for five years at the National Academy of Design. None of these places actually give out grades. They have no attendance records. They are not universities but strictly specialized art schools.
One of the books that I wrote called "Pastel" was translated into six languages and was in print for 25 years. It just recently went out of print. I continued to make portraits. I continued to exhibit other work that I did which are called easel paintings at galleries in New York and in other parts of the country. I've taught well over 10,000 students. I began teaching workshops privately as well. I still teach them here in my studio in North Salem, New York for three weeks during the summer. But for a while I had a very rigorous schedule of traveling all over the United States, as well as to foreign countries, teaching portraiture classes.
Art Interview: Did you organize these courses yourself or did you have assistance from an institution?
Daniel E. Greene N.A.: They were private classes that I had organized, although in England I taught at the University of Brighton and in France I gave private classes in Brittany and in Italy I gave private classes at Lake Como.
Art Interview: Do you have a university degree in fine art?
Daniel E. Greene N.A.: No, I don't even have a high school degree.
Art Interview: That means you've been able to teach without a degree based simply on your skills and reputation?
Daniel E. Greene N.A.: Yes, however I am not normally involved with teaching at universities. They have been all private classes except at the University of Brighton. Very much on the contrary I have painted many, many presidents of universities and I had no problem at all in terms of credentials. I am basically a practicing artist.
In any event there was a certain point in which I began to be interested in doing a series of paintings of the New York subways. What started as an individual painting that I... Well let me back track.
When I moved to New York City I rode the subways, as everyone in New York does. The subways at that time in 1953-54 were 15 cents. I noticed the beautiful mosaics on the walls and I thought that a particular image of people sitting on a bench underneath the mosaic in the subway would make an interesting painting. But I didn't act on that for many, many years. And at one point many years later my wife and I were traveling in Italy and we went to Pompeii where all of these beautiful mosaics are and we went to the Vatican, which also had wonderful mosaics and I thought that I would like to do a painting that included mosaics and I remembered the subway. When I went back to New York I wentinto the subway expressly with the idea of doing a single painting with mosaics in the background. But I found to my astonishment that there was so much material in the subway that interested me that I decided to do a series of paintings, which I did simply for my own edification. I had no idea if people would be interested in the subway or not but I found so much material that was inspiring that I just embarked upon doing a number of stations. Each station of the 450 that are in New York subway has a different color scheme and different decoration. The variation of the decorations was deliberately done around the turn of the century, in 1904, in order that illiterate immigrants who couldn't read would be able to recognize their subway stop by virtue of the different color combinations. I amassed a number of paintings, I think about 20 or so, and the gallery, that I was affiliated with, Gallery Henoch in New York, thought it would be a good idea to have an exhibition of my subway series. We did have an exhibition and to my great surprise there were many, many people who were interested in the New York subway. It seems that with the millions of people that ride the subway everyday there were a lot of people who related to various subway stations and various images that I depicted from the subway. So the short of it was that it got a great deal of attention, quite a lot of publicity on television, newspapers, and magazines all over the world. I continued to do paintings of the subway. Up until this time I have done some 80 paintings of the subway. I've had 3 or 4 shows that included large numbers of the subway paintings in addition to the other works that I do.
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Daniel E. Greene N.A.
Contest
Oil on Linen
78"x78" |
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Daniel E. Greene N.A.
Dutch Vase
Oil on Linen
50" x 50" |
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Daniel E. Greene N.A.
Bill with Kite
Pastel
60" x 40" |
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Art Interview: Are you primarily doing subway paintings now or portraiture work?
Daniel E. Greene N.A.: No, I've done quite a few subway paintings but now I am painting more figure paintings. There was another series that I became interested in doing which is on my website and that is depicting auctions and auctioneers and some of the crowds of people at auctions. So I embarked on a series of paintings of that subject. Many years ago I did a series of paintings of people flying kites. I happened to have a studio about a half a block from Central Park in New York. I became intrigued with kites and people flying kites. So in many instances the ideas led to doing more than one painting of a particular subject. There are numerous aspects of a subject that can be combined by doing a series and so I have done quite a few series of different subjects.
Art Interview: Do you paint every day?
Daniel E. Greene N.A.: Yes, every day including holidays. I am not interested in holidays except for using them as days to paint. So I paint all of the time and I have now given up all teaching except for three weeks during the summer here in my studio. I have limited the number of portrait commissions that I do per year and I spend all of my time painting. I paint people, I paint still-lives and occasionally I paint pictures of people in the subways. Also at a certain point, about 10 or 12 years ago, I began making instructional videos for artists and I have now made 6 instructional videos which are sold all over the world. They are basically on portraiture, on drawing, on color and they seem to be very well received.
Art Interview: Can people buy these through your website?
Daniel E. Greene N.A.: Yes, they can. Fundamentally, that is what I have been doing. I had a studio in New York City for 25 years and then at one point I decided to move abroad to Paris. I lived there for about a half a year and then I decided to come back and I moved to the country in Westchester County, which is an hour from New York City. So I now live in a rural area and I have what used to be an old dairy farm and the barn, which is immense, I use as my studio. My wife is an artist also and she has a studio separate from mine. I teach here and live here all year round, but I still have easy access to New York City.
Art Interview: It sounds really ideal.
Daniel E. Greene N.A.: Yeah, it is. I continue to exhibit in various galleries with which I am affiliated. I am doing exactly what I've always wanted to do and I have managed to make a living at it.
Art Interview: How long did it take before you were actually able to survive from your art?
Daniel E. Greene N.A.: Well, I have always managed to survive but it was literally hand to mouth in the beginning. My requirements were very meager. It was just a question of having enough money to be able to paint. At first I got odd jobs, which enabled me to earn the minimum amount of money that it took in order to be able to paint as much as possible.
Art Interview: Were you working part-time jobs or full-time jobs?
Daniel E. Greene N.A.: Part-time jobs. At certain point when I was quite young I figured out that there is a difference between needs and wants. I learned just exactly what the needs were, which had to do with food, having a roof over my head and art supplies. It had nothing to do with luxuries. That didn't come to a terribly large amount of money. So I would get odd jobs that gave me that amount of money. But I never worked at anything else. I never wanted to do anything else. So it was not a question of working at some other occupation and painting part-time - rather, I was painting all the time and hopefully earning enough money in order to continue painting. Eventually, about one year after I had left the Army I was able to win several painting grants so that I could paint full-time and begin to live entirely from the sales of my work.
Art Interview: Were you strictly doing portraitures at that time?
Daniel E. Greene N.A.: Yes, mostly portraits were bringing in the income.
Art Interview: How did you get your clients? Were they coming to you just by word of mouth?
This oral history transcript is the result of a tape-recorded interview with Daniel E. Greene N.A. on March, 29 2005. The interview took place over the telephone between Berlin, Germany, and New Salem, New York, USA and was conducted by Brendan Davis for Art Interview Online Magazine.
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