Samuel Adams Green

Sam Green (May 20, 1940 – March 4, 2011) was an American art curator and director, most associated with his promotion of American pop art, particularly the early works of his friend Andy Warhol.

Born in Boston on May 20, 1940, his father Samuel Magee Green was Dean of Fine Arts at Wesleyan University and descended from Samuel Adams, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. His mother was also a university arts lecturer.

During his childhood, his parents gave him a love of art and architecture, which led to him enrolling at the Rhode Island School of Design. However, bored with academic life, Green left after one year and moved to New York City, where he joined the local art scene.

In 1962 aged 22, he was introduced to the avant-garde art dealer Richard Bellamy (1927–1998), owner of the Green Gallery on 57th Street. Amused by the coincidence of their names, Bellamy hired Green on the spot to man the galleries front desk. Art writer John Gruen later described Green Gallery as "An important stepping-stone for every major American Pop artist". After Andy Warhol's friend Ted Carey saw the works of James Rosenquist there - when Warhol was without a gallery, and still working as an illustrator - he suggested that Warhol try to engage the owner. In 1963 Warhol befriended Green in the gallery (assuming that Green was the son of the owner named "Green"), looking for an outlet for his artworks.

Warhol and Green became friends, and Green displayed a few of Warhol's early works at the gallery. Green also acted as an assistant to one of Warhol's film projects, where they spent the summer on Long Island and in The Hamptons, persuading wealthy socialites to let them film naked models in their bathrooms. Green later appeared in Warhol's films Batman Dracula (1963) and Soap Opera (1964).

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