Philip H. Greene
The staff of the Hood Museum of Art mourn the loss of Philip H. Greene (1925–2014), a generous friend and patron of the museum who spent his last years in Hanover. A native of California, he and his wife, the former Marjorie Ann Burns, built a significant collection of "California-style" watercolors over a span of forty years. In 2007, Mr. Greene donated thirteen of these works to the museum in memory of his wife. These large, bold yet representational images of typical California subjects became the foundation for the museum's 2008 exhibition and accompanying catalogue Coastline to Skyline: The Philip H. Greene Gift of California Watercolors, 1930-1960.
Mr. Greene was born in Pasadena and graduated from Pomona College. He served as a naval officer during World War II and in Korea, and was both a former director of the Southwest Water Company and vice president of a member firm of the New York Stock Exchange. For many years he served as editor of the California Citrograph magazine. Beyond his professional interests, he was a great lover of sailing, music, literature, and poetry, which he both read and composed. Most of all, he was passionate about art. One of the Hood's most devoted supporters, he not only donated his watercolor collection to the museum but left a generous bequest.
Related Exhibitions
- Coastline to Skyline: The Philip H. Greene Gift of California Watercolors, 1930-1960
- Watercolor Washes and the Lure of the Sun: The Climate and Demographics Informing the California Watercolor
- American Works on Paper to 1950: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art