George Biddle

The son of a prominent Philadelphia family, George Biddle attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School with the intention of becoming a lawyer. By 1911, he changed course to pursue art at the Académie Julien in Paris and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. After serving two years in World War I, Biddle resettled in New York City.  In the following years he traveled frequently to France and made trips to numerous countries, including Tahiti. In 1928, he joined muralist Diego Rivera on a sketching trip through Mexico. Impressed by the passion and political commitment of the Mexican muralists, he decided to devote his own art to portraying the social, economic, and political issues facing America.  The experience also inspired his campaign to convince the U.S. government to sponsor a federal art program. Biddle was a childhood classmate and friend of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Through this relationship, he convinced the President to establish the Federal Art Project, which employed artists under the Works Progress Administration from 1935 to 1943. Biddle was President of the National Society of Mural Painters in 1935-36. During World War II, he was Chairman of the War Artists Advisory Committee, and in 1950-54, served on the Commission of Fine Arts under President Harry S. Truman.