Greta Kempton

Who was Greta Kempton?

Greta Kempton born Martha Greta Kempton in Vienna, Austria. American artist. She served as the White House artist during the Truman administration.

She studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts before emigrating to the United States circa 1926 and in the 1930s was a student at the National Academy of Design and Art Students League both in New York City.

Her style was reminiscent of Rembrandt, Rubens, and other European masters. By the 1940s, she had compiled a list of subjects, including Dagmar Nordstrom, one of the Nordstrom Sisters, the families of some Hollywood residents of New Orleans, where she lived with her then-husband, the businessman Ambrose McNamara. Kempton became well known in Washington following the unveiling in 1947 of her portrait of Drucie Snyder, the daughter of Treasury Secretary John W. Snyder. Through Snyder, Kempton gained introductions to other high officials of the Truman administration. Later in 1947, she painted a portrait of Drucie Snyder's friend, Bess Truman, and was also commissioned to paint a portrait of the President himself—the first of five Kempton paintings for which Mr. Truman posed. This became the official White House portrait of President Truman.