Greenspan, Her Art-Throb

"Partly it's just because his face is so interesting -- his lips, his ears, his hair," Crowe explained.

"And partly it was just the image of the man I wanted to play off of. He's been around for so long. Everyone recognizes him, and he seems to span the political spectrum. He's not a Democrat. He's not a Republican." (Greenspan is, in fact, a member of the GOP.)

Crowe, who minored in American politics at U-Va., said she likes Greenspan but had no special interest in him before she started the paintings. She has never met the man and has no idea if he is aware of her paintings. (A call to Greenspan's office Wednesday was not returned.) Crowe said her dad, who used to work at the Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers Inc., is a big Greenspan devotee.

The Greenspan project began after Crowe graduated in 2003. She was doing some work for an arts festival in Charlottesville. The theme was the dollar sign. And who personified the dollar more than Greenspan, Crowe thought. So she started watching video of the Fed chairman's testimony before Congress and searched for images on Google.

She did five paintings for the festival, and they were an immediate hit.

"People were funny, they loved taking pictures in front him," Crowe said of the Greenspan images. "I've never had people respond so positively to my work." Crowe received a post-graduate art fellowship from U-Va., $5,000 to do whatever art she wanted for a year.

But what to do? More Greenspan, she decided.

At first her fellowship advisers were less than thrilled. "They said, 'Erin, you really have to stop,' " Crowe said. But as her work progressed they became more supportive.

This summer, Crowe finally decided it was time to do things the Greenspan way and make some money. Her friend's gallery in Sag Harbor offered the perfect spot. "I really wanted to get them outside of Virginia, and Sag Harbor is the playground for so many rich Wall Street guys," Crowe said.

Still, despite her hunch that there might be some interest, Crowe said she and Breen were not at all prepared for the fervor the paintings generated. "We didn't expect it to be this huge at all. I figured I'd sell a few before going to grad school."

But she didn't count on the passion that Wall Street pros have for Greenspan, particularly hedge fund types like Hennessee, who have reaped enormous riches in recent years. "A huge part of Wall Street gives Greenspan the credit for much the financial successes they've had the last 18 years," Hennessee said. "And I thought the paintings were an interesting tribute."

Crowe, meanwhile, delivered several of the paintings to her customers in person. She said it was tough to let her Greenspans go.

"It was like when a breeder goes to meet a puppy's new parents," she said of the experience. "I kept asking, 'Where are you going to hang this?' "