The San Francisco call., 1908-09-20
I n GM e A r { w o r I d
By Lucy B. Jerome

OSEPH GREENBAUM is here from
Los Angeles. where he is now per-
~ manently situated. and is busy on
a number OF portraits which he
expects 10 finish before his departure
for the south in few weeks. One of
these portraits Is Of his sister, Mrs
l. y. Walker; another is Of his mother
/ and a third of Mrs. Bissinger, well
known in society circles. Greenbaum
has achieved great success as a portrait
painter. He has a distinctiyely orig
maj fashion OF painting in backgrounds
which harmonize charmingly with the
subject and accessories. a good iHustra-
ton OF his work is the portrait OF the
young girl known as "A symphony in
Brown" The brown tones of the wood
land forming the setting for the figure
Of the girl are carried out in the cos
tune, a walking suit Of brown with
long brown gloves and modisn hat
Even in the framing the brown tone
effect has been continued. This and the
spirit Of movement that perVades the
pieture-the girls body being deli
cately inclined a trifie forward as II
ready TO start down the path which
runs through the trees-and the ex-
preston of expectancy IN the ngure
are striking in their atmosphere OF
alert life. The half yelled, mysterious
2. CO VI llAc EAtl anu llAC AiOof- NeSf -
of black hair lying in a curve on the
forehead give an effect characteristic
ally French. The portrait has been
the subject of much comment, and once
seen viii not be forgotten.
Other portraits which Greenbaum
has lately completed are those of Mrs
Hancock Banning of Catalina, Mrs.
William Dunn Mrs Henry Huntington,
Mrs. r. H. Norton, Mrs. Morris Albee,
well known society woman of Los An
geles: a fine likeness of the mayor OF
San Bernardino. now hanging IN San
Bernardino city hall. and remark
ably fine one of Rex Slinkard. raneher.
of Texas The cowboys head. dark,
intense. nervous. is splendidly modelled
and the interesting characteristics
faithfully reproduced. 1t was the sit
ters fancy to have a frieze painted in
the background, on which the ngures
Of nymphs and fauns join in a sort OF
bacchanalian dance The idea Is mover
and as handled by GreenbaUm promises
TO be intensely interesting. The head
would attract attention anywhere
through its fine qualities and the way
in which. a big soul and heart shine
through the paint
In landscape Greenbaum has pro-
duced a big canvas, 40 by so. OF Des-
canso. at Catalina, a section of country
IN which he sees immense possibilities.
local art shop for a few days, but is
now in Oakland and viii later be sent
10 Del Monte. Impressionistie in style,
il is mostly palette knife work, while
the coloring. which is strong, has won
derful beauty The boldness and dar-
ing of the cliff work is extraordinary
and the curve of the smooth bay below
is exquisite in its cloudy variations and
shades of color. The picture was paint
ed on the spot from point far above
the water. which intensified the DIM
Guilty Of reproduction to high degree.
This is considered TO be the best work
that the artist has done Yet. a smaller
canvas at Vickery's is extremely pleas
ing, while another landscape is painted
in a high key and shows the brilliant
coloring of sunrise. L woke up early one
morning. says the artist, "and saw the
sky in such a splendid glory of color
that I rushed out, clad only in my pa
jamas, and painted like mad. fearing IL
would get away from me-" The picture
now on exhibition is the result. Last
spring a canvas Of Greenbaum's at the
Del Monte gallery was sold TO an east
ern purchaser and went TO enrich a
Boston collection. 1t was known as "A
Golden Sunset at Catalina"