Greene demonstrated his commitment to art when still a child; he was taking classes at the Art Academy of Cincinnati in 1944. He pursued his studies in New York in the 1950s at the Art Students League, where he worked under Robert Brackman, and at the Academy school. During service in the United States Army he worked in New York as an illustrator with the Recruiting Publicity Center, and as an instructor of painting.
In addition to painting in oil, Greene works in watercolor and pastel; his several books on the pastel technique are standards in the field. In style, he achieves an intense realism in representation of objects, which, however, is use for compositions of widely differing expressive intents. He is well known for formal portraits of distinguished personalities, including Eleanor Roosevelt and David Ben Gurion, and commissions for the Virginia, Harvard, Yale, and Columbia universities among others. In independent figure and still life paintings, however, he employees his detailed rendering of real objects to create highly personal, mysterious compositions. His still lifes, especially, where disparate objects are arranged vertically in a tighty compressed space, evoke comparison to the nineteen century rack pictures of Michael Harnett and John Haberle, as well as to twentieth century Surrealism.
Among Greene's honors are the Elizabeth T. Greenshields Memorial Foundation Grant, 1963-64; and many prizes in the exhibitions of the Allied Artists of America; the Salmagundi Club; Audubon Artists; the National Arts Club; and the American Watercolor Society. The Academy awarded him its Maynard Prize in the annual exhibition of 1970, and Salmagundi Prize in the annual of 1974. He taught at the Academy school from 1968 to 1975, and at the Art Students League from 1973 to 1981; and privately in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Greene served on the Academy Council as assistant treasurer from 1969 to 1971, and treasurer from 1971 to 1978.
