Robert Tanenbaum was born in Missouri in 1936. A gifted portrait artist from early on, Tanenbaum easily captured a sitter's likeness. This talent led him to study art at Washington University in St. Louis,Missouri, where he earned his Fine Arts degree. Robert has a system of working with casein and oils involving a preliminary graphite drawing on a gessoed board. Next 80% of the composition is laid in using casein. Over the casein he applies oil paint. In 1964 he moved from Missouri to Los Angeles where his skill in depicting a person's character was utilized in the production of movie posters. His other illustrations include 2 1/2 years of ads for Levi jeans. The group portrait of all the actors of the television series Roots was shown at the beginning of this well-known series. In 1971 his work was chosen as a purchase prize of the National Watercolor Society. (http://savvycollector.com)