Born to a prominent family in Philadelphia on January 24, 1885, George Biddle put his interest in art aside to accommodate his family's wishes and study law. He graduated from Harvard University in 1908 and Harvard Law in 1911, becoming a member of the Philadelphia bar. However, by the end of that same year, Biddle abandoned law and began studying art at the Académie Julian in Paris. Biddle continued his studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts during 1912 and 1913. He returned to Europe in 1914, studying in Munich and then in Madrid, where he studied printmaking. Biddle also spent the summers of 1915 and 1916 painting Impressionist works in France before he enlisted in the army in 1917. Following World War I, Biddle experimented in sculpture and graphics in Tahiti for two years and then in France between 1924–26. In 1927, Biddle returned to the United States settling in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. The following year, he traveled through Mexico on a sketching trip with Mexican muralist, Diego Rivera. During the Great Depression, Biddle actively sought government funding for the arts. His correspondence with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was a former classmate at Groton Preparatory School and Harvard, resulted in the establishment of the Federal Arts Project of the Works Progress Administration. The Depression fueled Biddle's desire to create socially conscious art. He established himself as a Social Realist through powerful murals depicting poverty. The Tenement, which he created in 1935 for the Department of Justice Building in Washington, D.C., was his first federally commissioned mural. The project led to controversy as people deemed his depiction of poverty to be inartistic. In addition to his artwork, Biddle authored several art books including An Artist at War and An American Artist's Story and he contributed regularly to national art magazines. In 1937, Biddle wrote the introduction for Boardman Robinson: Ninety-Three Drawings which was published by the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, where he taught in 1936 and 1937. In addition to teaching in Colorado, Biddle later taught at the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, the American Academy in Rome and Saugatuck, Michigan. He served as a chairman of the U.S. War Artists Committee during World War II and in 1950, President Truman appointed him to the Fine Arts Commission for which he served a 14-year term. Biddle died on November 6, 1973, in Croton-on-Hudson.
Portrait of Helene Sardeau (The Artist’s Wife)
By George Biddle
Located in Los Angeles, CA
(Note: This work is part of our exhibition Connected by Creativity: WPA Era Works from the Collection of Leata and Edward Beatty Rowan) Fresco, 20 x 16 inches unframed, 22 x 18 inch...
Plaster, Mixed Media
$1,600
H 21 in W 8.5 in
"Don't Cry Long" Abstracted and Distorted Self-Portrait, One Crying Eye
Located in Detroit, MI
"Don't Cry Long" is a self-portrait of the artist and an unusual one at that in which the artist portrays herself shedding tears. Perhaps it is an expression of some grief experienced by Ms. Woodlock, but it also admonishes her to not "Cry Long" while at the same time poking fun because of her elongated face and the one lone "long" tear tracing a pattern down her face. In addition to self-portraits, Ethelyn painted commissioned portraits. In this painting her head is cocked and her famous bangs hang down her forehead. Compare two self-portraits, “Up From Under”, and “M’Eyes" to "Don't Cry Long." The major differences are the close facial view and the brilliant blood red paint that fills the entire canvas. This painting is included in the book, "Dreams Have Wings: An Artist's Journey into Magic and Mystery" printed in the United States, 1985. She describes "Don't Cry Long" as showing how funny looking we are, if we cry too long. Ethelyn Woodlock...
Oil, Masonite
$950
H 28 in W 22 in D 2 in
Vintage Artist’s Self Portrait Oil Painting - Urban vs Rural Social Commentary
Located in Baltimore, MD
Baltimore-born Thaddeus Haduch was mainly known as a landscape artist. He was born to Polish immigrant parents in East Baltimore in 1905. It seems that he lived his entire life in a...
Oil
$500
H 18 in W 15 in
1950s "Black Floor" Mid Century Bay Area Figurative Movement Gouache Painting
Located in Arp, TX
From the estate of Jerry Opper & Ruth Friedman Opper Black Floor c. 1940-1950's Gouache on Paper 15" x 18" Unframed *Custom framing available for additional charge. Please expect framing time between 3-5 weeks. From the estate of Ruth Friedmann Opper & Jerry Opper. Ruth was the daughter of Bauhaus artist, Gustav Friedmann. San Francisco Abstract Expression A free-spirited wave of creative energy swept through the San Francisco art community after World War II. Challenging accepted modes of painting, Abstract Expressionists produced highly experimental works that jolted the public out of its postwar complacency. Abstract Expressionism resulted from a broad collective impulse rather than the inspiration of a small band of New York artists. Documenting the interchanges between the East and West Coasts, she cites areas of mutual influence and shows the impact of San Francisco on the New York School, including artists such as Mark Rothko and Ad Reinhardt. San Francisco's Beat poets...
Paper, Gouache
$850
H 15 in W 13.5 in D 1 in
An Elegant 1940s Modernist Portrait of a Young Woman in Red Dress
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
An Elegant 1940s Modernist Portrait of a Young Woman a Red Dress by Noted Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). A beautifully executed studio portrait, the painting is oil...
Masonite, Oil
$5,000
H 30 in W 22 in
SALVADOR DE REGIL 1954 Portrait of Marian Virginia Schuster - Surrealist Artist
By Salvador De Regil
Located in Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Marian Schuster was 19 years old in 1954 and attended City College San Francisco where she studied Art. In the old school, Victorian, San Francisco, moneyed household that she was r...
Canvas, Oil
$2,600
H 29 in W 24 in D 1 in
Woman at Basin, Picasso Style Portrait of a Female Nude, American Modernist
By Leon Kelly
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Woman by Basin" by Philadelphia born modernist and surrealist painter Leon Kelly, is a framed and matted portrait of a female nude. The 22.5" x 17.75" mixed media on artist board i...
Mixed Media
Portrait of a Hopeful Boy
Located in San Francisco, CA
It’s the hopeful, intelligent expression that grabs you. Especially in a boy framed by the evidence of abject poverty. How long can he endure? The artist, Roy Little, was described a...
Canvas, Oil
$50,000
H 30.25 in W 20.25 in
Groovy Lucille Ball, TV Guide cover - The the Mod look 1960s
By Bob Peak
Located in Miami, FL
Bob Peak's Lucille Ball, TV guide cover is a seminal work. With its stylized design and use of punchy color, this work constitutes a powerfully innovative pai...
Mixed Media, Gouache
$950
H 27.75 in W 23.75 in D 1.5 in
A Striking Mid-Century Modern Studio Portrait of a Seated Young Woman
By Walter Burt Adams
Located in Chicago, IL
A Striking Mid-Century Modern Portrait of a Young Woman by Notable Chicago Artist, Walter Burt Adams (Am. 1903-1990). A well executed figurative work by the artist, depicting a young woman stylishly dressed in a black sleeveless top seated in a muted studio interior. The painting exemplifies the artist's adept and practiced skill at portraiture, and was likely completed at the artist's studio in Evanston, Illinois. Artwork size: 24 x 20 inches, oil on canvas, accompanied with the original painted Mid-Century frame (framed size: 27 3/4 x 23 3/4 inches). Provenance: Estate of the artist. Walter Burt Adams was a dedicated painter of the American Scene and a singular personality among his peers in the Chicago Modern Art community. His no-nonsense manner, devotion to his craft and sardonic sense of humor characterize a man whose paintings capture life in and around Chicago between the early 1920s and the late 1970s. Born in Kenosha, Wisconsin just after the turn of the last century, Walter Burt Adams spent his childhood in Fargo, North Dakota and began his artistic education there through a correspondence cartooning class as a boy. After finishing high school in Fargo, Adams moved to Chicago in 1922 in order to enroll at the school of the Art Institute of Chicago. Adams’ instruction at the school with artists such as George Oberteuffer, Frederick V. Poole, Charles Wilimovsky...
Canvas, Oil
Portrait of Virginia Cowles
By René Bouché
Located in Sheffield, MA
Rene Robert Bouche American, 1906-1963 Portrait of Virginia Cowles Oil on canvas 33 by 43 in, w/ frame 35 ½ by 45 ½ in Signed upper left Fascinated by th...
Oil
Suzanna and the Elders, American Watercolor, Signed, 1940s
By Ben Shahn
Located in Miami, FL
A modern interpretation of the biblical story Suzanna and the Elders. Signed lower right Ink and wash on paper The Downtown Gallery Felix Landau Gallery Ernest Brown & Phillips, Ltd...
Ink, Watercolor, Gouache, Archival Paper
$179,000
H 30 in W 23.5 in
Up at Bat, The Saturday Evening Post Cover, August 10, 1940
By Spencer Douglass Crockwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Price on Request. The Saturday Evening Post cover, August 10, 1940
Masonite, Oil
Winter (Winter on the Hudson)
By George Biddle
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This work is part of our exhibition America Coast to Coast: Artists of the 1930s Winter or Winter on the Hudson, 1927, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, 36 x 36 inches, ...
Oil
Sold
H 22.5 in W 26.5 in D 1.5 in
Hooverville by Day (Colorado), 1940s Signed Oil Landscape Painting Neighborhood
By George Biddle
Located in Denver, CO
1940s oil on canvas painting by George Biddle (1885-1973) titled "Hooverville by Day (Colorado)". Signed and dated by the artist in the lower left corner, titled verso. Painting depi...
Canvas, Oil