William Rothenstein

English artist Sir William Rothenstein (1872–1945), best known for his portraits, met Belle da Costa Greene in late 1911, when she told Berenson he was drawing "a pastel of [her] head." By February 1912 he had finished two drawings of Greene and exhibited the pastel in Boston; Greene "did not recognize [herself]" in the drawing, despite Rothenstein's claim of its great success. Elsewhere she described the portrait as "a combination of a Buddha – a suffragette and Jeanne d’Arc." These descriptions seem to relate to this drawing, which was given to the Morgan in 1956 by Belle Greene's successor as director of the Pierpont Morgan Library, Frederick B. Adams, Jr., who had apparently been given the drawing.

BG to BB, 12/12/11 (175): “I met your artist Rothenstein a day or two after he landed here at a dinner, & have seen him several times since. He is doing a pastel of my head – I have not seen it yet but hope it will be worth preserving – He is a most interesting chap and I liked him immensely Why didn’t you give him a letter to me instead of to all the fools of the world – To put that real man up against “the” Lydig, Kahns & Flowerdales! Poor child, I laughed until he grew cross & then I sympathized with him – However I trust he will do better in Boston & when he gets back here I will shake up one or two people for him”

BG to BB, 2/6/12 (182): “Rothenstein finished a second drawing of me the other day which I understand he is going to present to me in which case I will send it to you – He thinks the pastel a great success but I do not recognize myself in it at all. He exhibited it in Boston & says he got lots of orders on the strength of it but God alone knows why”

BG to BB, 2/13/12 (183): “I enclose a note from your friend Rothenstein which I think is very nice and hope, if you see him, you will tell him how much I liked him as I neglected to write the same myself. If you like I will send you the pastel along with the de Meyer photographs or else I will keep it here until the fall when you come and if you like it you can take it back with you – It looks to me like a combination of a Buddha – a suffragette and Jeanne d’Arc – But you shall judge for yourself what you think of it – I like the last drawing he made of me and which I will have photographed for you”

BG to BB, 2/11/13 (226): “he [Mabel Dodge’s husband] expressed himself as much relieved to find that I did not look like Rothenstein’s portrait of me”