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Artist:

hen we first saw this painting thirty years ago, we declared it to be, in our judgment, the greatest pastel portrait ever painted. That remains our view today. This astonishing piece carries the medium of pastel to its absolute outer limits. For sheer artistic and emotional power, this portrait has very few, if any, superiors—certainly not in the realm of the difficult pastel medium.

There is a widely-held view that pastel is a medium ideal for "soft" or "sketchy" effects. This painting demonstrates conclusively that the pastel medium does not take an inferior place to oils in any respect, and is totally capable of the full range of modeling in light and shade. Perhaps no other artist before Daniel Greene has so completely elevated pastel to an equality with other artistic media.

The aspiring pastel artist will do well to study the remarkable head and hands in this portrait. The richness of detail, the uncompromising thoroughness of execution in very strong light and shade—it cannot be done with greater power than is here demonstrated.

A noteworthy feature of the painting is the highly unorthodox background, partially comprised of repeating geometric and decorative shapes. J.H.S.