Jacob Greenleaf

(1887-1968) 

I suspect Jacob Greenleaf was an unpretentious man, dedicated to his craft, and a disciplined exhibitor in many different venues. His compositions are straight-forward, uncomplicated interpretations of the Cape Ann region. A friend of mine who has been a longtime source of good paintings brought this piece to me, knowing that I like images of Motif #1 in Rockport. Greenleaf shows not only good drawing skills but a delicate sense of restrained color depicting a gray daylight that occurs often along the New England coast. Paintings like this prompt the question how the collector chooses to keep a painting or dispose of it perhaps for something else. My answer, or yardstick, is fairly simple: if it really means a lot more to me than it’s worth to the market… keep it.