Skip to main content

George Biddle Art

American, 1885-1973

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.

to
3
1
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
6
4
1
1
1
3
1
5
4
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
5
1
1
6
7,820
5,167
2,504
1,501
1
6
Artist: George Biddle
original lithograph
By George Biddle
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. This lithograph is from the rare 1950 "Improvisations" portfolio, published by the Artists Equity Association of New York on the occasion of the 1950 Spr...
Category

1950s George Biddle Art

Materials

Lithograph

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...
Category

1930s American Modern George Biddle Art

Materials

Plaster, Mixed Media

Banana Grove
By George Biddle
Located in New York, NY
George Biddle (1885-1973), Banana Grove, lithograph, 1928. Signed, titled and numbered in pencil [also annotated in the plate “Biddle/1928, lower right “47). References: Pennigar 81, Trotter 47. In excellent condition, the full sheet, on cream wove BFK RIVES paper, with their (partial) watermark. 12 1/2 x 9, the sheet 20 x 16, archival mounting (non attached mylar hinging between acid free board, glassine cover). A fine fresh rich impression in pristine condition. After Groton, Harvard College...
Category

1920s Realist George Biddle Art

Materials

Lithograph

Goat Herder's Wife
By George Biddle
Located in New York, NY
George Biddle (1885-1973), Goat Herder’s Wife, 1928, lithograph, signed in pencil lower right and titled and numbered (64/100) in pencil lower left margin [with the inscription ”Bidd...
Category

1920s Realist George Biddle Art

Materials

Lithograph

Hombre! Que Sin Vergeunza!
By George Biddle
Located in New York, NY
George Biddle (1885-1973), Hombre! Que Sin Vergeunza!, 1928, lithograph, signed and dated in pencil lower right, titled and numbered lower left [also signed in plate lower left ”Biddle/1928/44]. References: Pennigar 78, Trotter 44. Edition 100. In excellent condition (never framed, without light or time staining), with wide margins, the full sheet, 9 3/4 x 13 3/4, the sheet 15 1/2 x 20 1/2 inches. Printed by George C. Miller. On cream wove paper with the FRANCE watermark. Archival mounting (mylar unattached mounting between acid-free board). A fine, fresh impression, in pristine condition. According to Pennigar the title translates roughly to “Buddy! Aren’t you ashamed of yourself!” The title refers to the composition: the well-groomed man with his foot up in the carriage passes a group of naked little boys...
Category

1920s American Realist George Biddle Art

Materials

Lithograph

Coffee Huskers
By George Biddle
Located in New York, NY
George Biddle (1885-1973), Coffee Huskers, 1928, lithograph, signed, titled and numbered [also inscribed ’43/Biddle/1928 in the plate]. Reference: Pennigar 77, Trotter 43. From the edition of 100, on Rives cream wove paper, with the Rives watermark. In excellent condition, probably never framed or matted, the full sheet, 13 1/4 x 9 3/4, the sheet 16 x 11 1/2 inches, archival mounting (mylar non-attached hinging between acid free boards glassine cover). A fine black impression. Biddle wrote of this lithograph, in 1943: “After scraping the tusche away…I worked back with a pensil (sic) and again with diamond. This all adds to the richness of texture and color.” This work produces a very sophisticated lithographic look, akin in some ways to drypoint work in etching. After Groton, Harvard College and Harvard Law (and several breakdowns) Biddle concluded that a conventional career in law was not for him; he decided on art, went to Paris, worked with Mary Cassatt and familiarized himself with modernist currents in art (as well as more traditional European art). After serving in WWI, and the dissolution of his marriage, he became interested in working outside of the European tradition (although his travels continued to include Europe, and he spent a period working under the influence of Jules Pascin in Paris in the mid-‘20’s). Coffee Huskers, like many of the Mexican and Haitian prints...
Category

1920s American Realist George Biddle Art

Materials

Lithograph

Related Items
HEARTLAND Hand Drawn Lithograph, Winter Landscape Stone Farmhouse Bucks County
By Peter Sculthorpe
Located in Union City, NJ
HEARTLAND is an original hand drawn, limited edition lithograph by Peter Sculthorpe (b.1948 Ontario, Canada) printed using hand lithography techniques on archival Arches paper, 100% ...
Category

1980s Realist George Biddle Art

Materials

Lithograph

Cooling Off, American Western Art Lithograph by Duane Bryers
By Duane Bryers
Located in Long Island City, NY
Duane Bryers, American (1911 - 2012) - Cooling Off, Year: 1979, Medium: Lithograph, Signed and Numbered in Pencil, Edition: 300, AP, Image Size: 17.5 x 22.5 inches, Size: 21.5 i...
Category

1970s American Realist George Biddle Art

Materials

Lithograph

BUCK RUN BRIDGE Signed Lithograph Historic Covered Bridge Winter Landscape, Cows
By Peter Sculthorpe
Located in Union City, NJ
BUCK RUN BRIDGE is an original, hand drawn, limited edition lithograph(not a photo reproduction or digital print) by Peter Sculthorpe(b.1948 Ontario, Canada) printed in 1990 at JK Fine Art Editions Co. NYC, using hand lithography techniques on archival Arches paper, 100% acid free. Buck Run Bridge depicts a finely detailed drawing of a historic covered bridge in Chester County, Pennsylvania. BUCK RUN BRIDGE is an elongated horizontal composition, image measures 11.5 in. H x 36.75 in. W; a very appealing scenic Pennsylvania winter landscape with subtle details exhibiting fine line drawing and watercolor-like washes blending to form a wintry blue sky. The landscape captivating the viewer's eye with its delicate branches on bare trees, stone walls, split rail...
Category

1990s Realist George Biddle Art

Materials

Lithograph

Hounds Gentlemen Please by Tom Carr - Engraving 26x31 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper Ed: 63/75
Category

Mid-20th Century Realist George Biddle Art

Materials

Engraving

Still life, Pale Roses in a vase - Lithograph, 1971
By Paul Cézanne
Located in Paris, IDF
Paul Cezanne Still life, Roses in a vase, 1971 Lithograph and stencil (Jacomet workshop) Unsigned Numbered / 225 On paper applied on Arches vellum 53.5 x 41.5 cm (c. 21 x 16.5 in) ...
Category

1970s Modern George Biddle Art

Materials

Lithograph, Stencil

La Boite Alerte, 20th Century Abstract Print
By Joan Miró
Located in Beachwood, OH
Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893-1983) La Boite Alerte, 1959 Color lithograph Signed lower right, numbered 98/200 lower left 9.75 x 6.75 inches Joan Miró Ferra was born April 20, 1893, in B...
Category

1950s Abstract George Biddle Art

Materials

Lithograph

Gazelle - Lithograph by A. Mastroianni - 1970s
By Alberto Mastroianni
Located in Roma, IT
Hand Signed. Edition of 150 prints in Arabic numbers plus 30 prints in roman numbers. Excellent conditions.
Category

1970s Realist George Biddle Art

Materials

Lithograph

Rare New York City Oil Portrait by Modernist Artist Lisa Mangor, ca 1940’s
Located in Baltimore, MD
This is a highly stylized portrait of a lady by known and listed artist Lisa Mangor. Ms.Mangor was born in Russia in 1890 and came to New York likely around the beginning of World W...
Category

1940s American Modern George Biddle Art

Materials

Oil

Horsemen
By William Gropper
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "The Horsemen" 1935, is an original lithograph on paper by noted American artist William Gropper, 1897-1977. It is hand signed in pencil by the artist. The artwork (image) size is 9.5 x 12.75 inches, framed size is 17.5 x 20.40 inches. Published by Associated American Artists, New York, printed by George Miller. Referenced and pictured in the artist catalogue raisonne by Steinberg, page 246 and Windisch and Cole, plate #602. Custom framed in a black metal frame, with off white matting. It is in excellent condition, the frame have very minor scratches. An example of this particular artwork is held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. and at the Portland Museum, Portland. About the artist: William Gropper was born in New York City's Lower East Side in 1897. He was the first of six children to parents who earned small wages working in sweatshops. At the age of fourteen, Gropper left school to help support his family. While carrying bolts of cloth for his deliveries, Gropper began to draw on scraps of paper, sidewalks, and walls. A passerby saw some of these drawings and invited Gropper to attend a life-drawing class at the Ferrer School. He studied there for three years from 1912 to 1915, attending classes taught by Robert Henri and George Bellows. From 1915 to 1918 Gropper attended the New York School of Fine and Applied Art part-time on scholarship. Gropper also won a scholarship to the National Academy of Design, but remained as a student for only a short time; the rigid and systematic institution conflicted with Gropper's belief in the personal nature of art. At the New York School of Fine and Applied Art, Gropper earned several prizes. One of these prizes was for his cartoons, which led him to be hired by the New York Tribune in 1917 to sketch for their features. A few years later through freelance work, his cartoons and drawings appeared in other newspapers and magazines, such as The Liberator, The New Masses, The New York Post, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair. By the late 1920s Gropper was an established cartoonist and draughtsman. He sympathized with the labor movement and was a champion of peace and personal liberty. Gropper began to paint seriously, but privately, on these themes in 1921. Gropper's first exhibition of monotypes was held in 1921 at the Washington Square Book Shop in New York. At this time, he also began to do illustrations for books. Gropper took his first sketching trip in 1924 to the West with Morris Pass. By 1930 Gropper began to receive recognition as a fine artist. In 1934, he received two mural commissions from the Schenley Corporation in New York City. In 1935, he was commissioned to paint a mural for the Hotel Taft in New York City. In 1936, Gropper received several public mural commissions: one was for the Freeport, Long Island Post Office, which was completed in 1938 and followed by another mural for the Northwestern Postal Station, Detroit, Michigan. In his first gallery exhibition in 1936 at ACA Galleries, Gropper's work was so well received by critics, collectors, and artists that the following year he had two one-man exhibitions at ACA Galleries. In 1937, Gropper traveled west on a Guggenheim Fellowship and visited the Dust Bowl and the Hoover and Grand Coulee Dams, sketching studies for a series of paintings and a mural he painted for the Department of the Interior in Washington, DC. That same year he had paintings purchased by both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art. Gropper exhibited at the 1939 New York World's Fair, Whitney Museum of American Art (1924-55), Art Institute of Chicago (1935-49), Carnegie International (1937-50), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1939-48), and National Academy of Design (1945-48). He was a founder of the Artists Equity Association and member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. From 1940 to 1945 William Gropper was preoccupied with anti-Nazi cartoons...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Realist George Biddle Art

Materials

Lithograph

Horsemen
Horsemen
H 17.5 in W 20.4 in D 0.75 in
Jack Russell Terriers by Alexander Pope
By Alexander Pope
Located in Paonia, CO
An original chromolithograph from the Celebrated Dogs of America by Alexander Pope Jr. and published by S.E. Casino, Boston,1882. This compositio...
Category

1880s Other Art Style George Biddle Art

Materials

Lithograph

Norman Rockwell Original Lithograph Courting Couple, Date, Hand Signed Americana
By Norman Rockwell
Located in Surfside, FL
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) Courting Couple at Midnight (with Cuckoo clock) 1972 Offset lithograph print, collotype) Hand signed in pencil, numbered H AP 9/10 26 x 21 in. (sight),...
Category

1970s American Realist George Biddle Art

Materials

Lithograph, Offset

LITTLEWOODS Signed Lithograph, Historic Stone Farmhouse, Bucks County Landscape
By Peter Sculthorpe
Located in Union City, NJ
LITTLEWOODS is an original hand drawn, limited edition lithograph by Peter Sculthorpe (b.1948 Ontario, Canada) printed using hand lithography techniques on archival Arches paper, 100...
Category

1980s Realist George Biddle Art

Materials

Lithograph

Previously Available Items
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, ...
Category

20th Century American Modern George Biddle Art

Materials

Oil

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...
Category

1940s American Modern George Biddle Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

River Life, Haiti
By George Biddle
Located in New York, NY
George Biddle (1885-1973), River Life, Haiti, 1928, lithograph, signed and dated in pencil lower right margin, titled and numbered lower left margin. Reference: Pennigar 84, Trotter ...
Category

1920s Realist George Biddle Art

Materials

Lithograph

River Life, Haiti
H 12.25 in W 16.6 in D 1 in
POOR WHITES
By George Biddle
Located in Santa Monica, CA
GEORGE BIDDLE (1885 - 1973) POOR WHITES, 1932 (Pennigar 104) Lithograph, signed and titled in pencil edition. 40. Image 11 x 14 1/4 inches, sheet 14 x 19 5/8 inches.
Category

1930s American Modern George Biddle Art

Materials

Lithograph

Polley Pulque! (Mexican beer like beverage that is cactus based from WPA era)
By George Biddle
Located in New Orleans, LA
An original lithograph signed, titled and numbered in pencil. This impression is #28 out of an edition of 50. Mexicans have been brewing pulque from the juice of cactus-like maguey plants for centuries, but the viscous, beer-like beverage fell out of favor starting in the 1970s as pulque got a bad reputation as a peasant's drink. The nutrient-rich drink is making a comeback among a new generation of Mexicans. Born on January 24, 1885 in Philadelphia, George Biddle received his B.A. from Harvard where he then completed his doctorate in law. He received art instruction at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, at the Académie Julian in Paris and then in Munich. During the first world war, Biddle lived in Giverny (1915-16) where he painted outdoor nudes...
Category

1920s American Modern George Biddle Art

Materials

Lithograph

Grand Central Station NYC Modernism WPA Industrial Transportation Depression Era
By George Biddle
Located in New York, NY
Artist George Biddle (1885-1973) drew this 9 x 12 inch mixed media on paper, "Grand Central Station" in 1933. Depicting the waiting area in the great New York City transportation hub...
Category

1930s American Modern George Biddle Art

Materials

Ink, Watercolor, Gouache, Rag Paper

The Expectant Thistles
By George Biddle
Located in New York, NY
George Biddle (1885-1973), The Expectant Thistles, 1928, lithograph, signed and dated in pencil lower right, titled and numbered in pencil lower left [also inscribed in the plate low...
Category

1920s American Realist George Biddle Art

Materials

Lithograph

Industrial Scene
By George Biddle
Located in Los Angeles, CA
GEORGE BIDDLE "INDUSTRIAL SCENE" OIL ON CANVASBOARD, SIGNED AMERICAN, C.1930 16 X 20 INCHES George Biddle 1885-1973 George Biddle, sculptor, painter and graphic artist and illustrator was born in Philadelphia in 1885. Biddle's early academic schooling was "constantly at war with natural creative instincts, and was possibly the cause for his two early breakdowns, at sixteen, and again at twenty-three." Biddle got an A.B. and LL.D. degree from Harvard and at the time accepted that he, like other Biddle's before him would follow in the tradition of the famous Biddle family of lawyers. He passed the state bar exams at the age of twenty-six, and at the very same time, much to the chagrin of his family, "at last determined to become a painter" the war within was over. He studied in Paris, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (two years) and Munich. Biddle also studied with Ole Nordmark. He stated "I gobbled up museums, French impressionism, cubism, futurism, the Old Masters; I copied Valequez in Madrid, Rubens in Munich; I fell under the spell of Mary Cassatt's' passion and integrity, and through her eyes I was influenced by Degas. I was desperately in earnest to overcome my late start." The onset of the World War, in which Biddle served for two years, was another setback the artist had to overcome for he was already thirty-four and still a student. Undeterred Biddle turned at first to Europe then the tropics for inspiration and spent two years in Polynesia toiling with failed attempts at expressionistic painting. He then went to Paris to further experiment with stone and wood, and modeled in clay. He cut block prints and made designs for marquetry, embroidery, stitch work and pottery. Of those years that he regarded as unhappy, he wrote in his autobiography: "I began to feel how different from our own is the French mentality; and I realized how actually different in motivation and content is our own best American art." He returned to America in 1922 at the age of thirty-seven. In the early summer of 1930, he traveled to Charleston, South Carolina and made ink and watercolor sketches that he later transformed into oil paintings and lithographs. During the mid thirties Biddle settled in Croton-on-Hudson with his second wife where he remained for the rest of his life. Biddle used his friendship with Franklin Roosevelt to initiate the ambitious Federal Art Project, later known as the W.P.A., that employed artists of all sorts. Biddle completed murals for the New Brunswick, NJ, post office; Department of Justice...
Category

1930s American Modern George Biddle Art

Materials

Oil

George Biddle art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic George Biddle art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by George Biddle in lithograph, mixed media, plaster and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large George Biddle art, so small editions measuring 9 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Fred Nagler, Samuel Chamberlain, and Bernard Brussel-Smith. George Biddle art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $50 and tops out at $12,500, while the average work can sell for $300.

Artists Similar to George Biddle

Recently Viewed

View All