"I recently purchased the attached oil by ’J Campbell Phillips’. It is 36 x 30 un, ritePad 41 x 35 approximately.
In great condition, thought this might be of some consequence to Veronica Lake fans as there can’t be too many original oils of her.
The gallery that had the painting listed it simply as woman in a green dress. When asked about provenance they indicated they had no information other than it had been purchased from a NY estate.
I send the artists signature which matches the other portrait I have that was done by Mr. Phillips.
I have done side by side comparisons by opening up multiple sites and some of the pics have a striking resemblance, check out the waist line Mark, can’t be much more than 21".
Agree w/the fuller face but I believe this oil would have been done in the mid/late 40’s, when Veronica would have been mid/late 20’s, close to the end of both Veronica’s and Mr. Phillips career (died in 1949).
The track record for J Campbell Phillips is fairly easy to follow his forte being portraits, yes he was an illustrator so several landscapes exist...So, the time period fits, also, location makes sense. Veronica spent a great deal of time in NY, Mr. Phillips spent almost all of his time in NY and the painting was purchased from an estate in NY.
I am going to contact the gallery that had the portrait and see if they will provide me the estate the portrait came from, this will probably be a dead end but it is worth the effort. Is there anyone who helped in her biography that may have insight, I will see if I can get anywhere in pursuing this avenue (I am recently retired so I have time), if you have any thoughts please let me know.
My personal belief is that this was commissioned and later sold as almost everything Veronica had was. Obviously I would like to put a name w/the face and to be Veronica would be fantastic. I didn’t purchase it w/the thought of having found Veronica, I purchased it because I thought it was a striking portrait that I wouldn’t mind looking at when I walked into my living room, if this is not Veronica t his lady was beautiful. In conclusion, knowing the subject matter Mr. Phillips was famous for I believe this to be an oil of Veronica painted in a relaxed atmosphere far away from Hollywood.
Maybe we can prove one way or the other that this is/isn’t Veronica, thanks again Mark."
