Otto J. Schneider

This etching was made by the American artist Otto J. Schneider, who created portraits of stylish American women and historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Henry David Thoreau. In a letter dated 29 June 1909, Greene told Bernard Berenson that Schneider had made the portrait from memory after visiting her office (the elegant North Room of J. Pierpont Morgan’s Library) and seeing her deep in bibliographical research with "half the Library" spread out on her desk.

Schneider worked as a newspaper illustrator, and took evening classes at the Art Institute of Chicago before moving to NY in 1903. He mainly created portraits of women, and worked almost exclusively in dry-point etching, not working with acid. An article in Cosmopolitan says that he was influenced by the French artist Paul Helleu’s depictions of women. He did make some portraits of men, and some in color. He made his own prints.

BG to BB, 6/29/09 (29): “I am sending you by this post an etching which Otto Schneider made of me at my desk – exacting the promise beforehand, that you will destroy it after a glance – It has no merit as a portrait of me – and really none at all except that it was done from memory – He came into the library one day when I was busily engaged hunting up particulars of a certain book & half the Library was on my desk – and he went away & made this etching & sent it to me the next-morning – for that reason I tolerate it but I really hate to think I am quite as vacant minded as it would lead one to suppose – [double underlined: also] I think it will make a delicious companion piece to my real (?) self as shown by your friend’s drawing”