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
$489
H 16 in W 12 in
America impressionist portrait young boy 1937 Modern Figurative Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
A fantastic modern portrait of a young boy. This work is signed what appears to be Paul Sellers and dated 1937, but we have not found information on the artist. The work dated 1936...
Oil, Board
$3,950
H 20 in W 18 in D 2 in
"Georgia Moonshiner, c. 1935" by Athos Menaboni (1895-1990) American WPA Era Oil
Located in Yardley, PA
A fantastic WPA-era painting of a Georgia moonshiner by famed Italian-American artist Athos Menaboni (1895-1990). This work depicts an older man sporting a brown hat, brown jacket, ...
Masonite, Oil
$6,500
H 40.25 in W 48 in D 2 in
“Daguerreotype Dandies, c. 1937” Tressa Benson Regionalist American Maine Oil
Located in Yardley, PA
About this work: “Daguerreotype Dandies, c. 1937” by Tressa Benson (American, 1896-1987). Painted with the charm of a rediscovered family photo, this wonderfully eccentric work by B...
Canvas, Oil
$9,500
H 26 in W 22 in D 2 in
American modernist portrait of a young woman by Allen Tucker
By Allen Tucker
Located in Colfax, CA
American modern portrait of a young woman with a bow in her hair by Allen Tucker. Tucker was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1866 and graduated from the School of Mines at Columbia Uni...
Oil
$6,500
H 32 in W 32 in D 2.75 in
"The Champ, 1942" Joe Louis "Brown Bomber" Boxer Portrait Ex-Museum Oil Signed
Located in Yardley, PA
“The Champ, 1942” by Theodore Fried (1902-1980) This important portrait by Hungarian-American artist Theodore Fried depicts the legendary boxer Joe Louis aka “The Brown Bomber” and ...
Canvas, Oil, Board
$9,500
H 20 in W 24 in D 2 in
Landscape with Artist. Mid-Century Chicago Modernist Oil Painting.
By William Schwartz
Located in Marco Island, FL
Chicago Modernist, William Schwartz, painted this dynamic landscape of an artist painting en plein air. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago shortly after emigrating to the Un...
Canvas, Oil, Board
$6,500
H 21.88 in W 17.38 in D 2 in
On the Beach. Woman Reading. Mid-Century Chicago Modernist Oil Painting.
By William Schwartz
Located in Marco Island, FL
Chicago Modernist, William Schwartz, painted this intimate painting of a woman reading titled On the Beach. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago shortly after emigrating to th...
Canvas, Oil, Board
$12,000
H 33.38 in W 28.38 in D 2.5 in
“The Big City, 1948” Grand Central Station NYC Manhattan Female WPA Modernist
Located in Yardley, PA
“The Big City, 1948” by Anna Elkan Meltzer (American, 1896-1974) One of Meltzer’s finest works, this painting encapsulates the organized chaos of Grand Central Terminal in NYC in th...
Canvas, 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
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
$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
$8,750
H 37 in W 32.25 in
Portrait of Woman with Fuchsia, Early 20th Century Still Life
By Clarence Holbrook Carter
Located in Beachwood, OH
Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000) Woman with FUCHSIA, 1935 Oil on canvas Signed and dated lower right 31.75 x 27 inches 37 x 32.25 inches, framed Untitled Still Life ver...
Oil