Charles Greener
Charles Greener (1870-1935) was born in Lancaster, Wisconsin and moved to Hand County, à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã Territory (South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã) with his family in 1883. Greener settled in Faulkton, South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã in 1890.
He displayed an interest in art as a youth, and received formal training at the University of North à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã, at the art colony in Galesburg, Illinois, with Anson Kross in Boston, at the Cincinnati Academy of Fine Arts and with J.H. Kaumeyer in Minneapolis. He maintained a studio in Faulkton until his death.
The South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã landscape was Greener’s first love and he produced hundreds of paintings of the prairie in Faulk County. Dramatic sunrises were of particular interest to the artist.
Greener received critical attention for his portraits of Governors Frank Byrne and Charles Herreid and United States Senator J.A. Pickler, all in the State Capitol at Pierre. He was one of only two South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðãns included in the First Northwestern Artists Exhibition of 1915 at the Saint Paul Institute in Minnesota. Even greater attention came from a 1928 commission from the Young Citizen’s League of South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã for the painting, "Looking Towards Washington," presented to President and Mrs. Calvin Coolidge to commemorate their 1927 vacation in the Black Hills. Their son, John, donated this important work to the South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã Art Museum in 1983.
The South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã Art Museum preserves 53 works by Charles Greener and a substantial archive on the artist.
Museum Parking: Just west of the museum on Harvey Dunn Street (926 Harvey Dunn St. on GPS). Check in at the front desk for a parking pass.