Kempton, Greta, 1903-1991

Greta Kempton (Martha Greta) was born on March 22, 1903, in Vienna, Austria. In about 1926 she immigrated to the United States, and in about 1930 she became a student at the National Academy of Design and Art Students League in New York City. From 1946 to 1947 she was commissioned to paint portraits of Drucie Snyder, Treasury Secretary John Snyder, Margaret Truman, and President Harry S. Truman (the official White House portrait). In 1948 the Democratic National Committee distributed prints of the official White House portrait as part of Truman's reelection campaign. On February 5, 1949 she opened a one-woman exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. On February 21, 1949 she presented her portrait of Truman in his Masonic regalia (as Grand Master of Missouri) to the President at the Hotel Statler in Washington. From 1949 to 1952 she painted additional portraits of Harry Truman, Bess Truman, Margaret Truman, and several Truman administration officials. In 1963 she was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in London, England. In 1968 she presented a portrait of Bess Truman to the White House. In 1987 the exhibit, "Greta Kempton: Forty Years on Canvas" opened at the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Missouri. Kempton died in New York City on December 10, 1991.

From the description of Kempton, Greta, 1903-1991 (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration). naId: 10576062

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