Samuel Bookatz

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American painter who defied the demands of his blue collar, Orthodox Jewish upbringing to study art in the United States and Europe. Bookatz painted in a variety of styles: for commissions with presidential, military, political, and civic portraits; for religious and secular frescoes; and mostly for his own vision. In his private art, he developed from a realistic style to impressionist paintings, later to figurative expressionist and to increasingly abstract expressionist themes. Bookatz produced early work strong enough that one submission won the 1937 Prix de Rome and allowed him to tour Europe studying art in London, Paris, and Rome for two years. After joining the National Medical Corps he became FDR's personal painter. He created official portraits of both Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt during this time. He wrote, "The best light I had was sitting on the edge of Lincoln's bed and painting with my easel propped up in front of me." His portraits of five admirals hang at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. He painted Vice Adm. Ross T. McIntire (Navy Surgeon General and President Roosevelt's personal physician) and Pennsylvania governor David L. Lawrence as well. Samuel Bookatz died on 16 November 2009 at age 99. Since his death the vast majority of his paintings, numbering in the thousands, are being overseen by the Bookatz Foundation. Link to Wikipedia biography