George Biddle papers
name: label: Creator
content: Biddle, George, 1885-1973
label: Names
content: Federal Art Project
label: Names
content: Justice Dept. Building (Washington, D.C.)
label: Names
content: National Library Building (Rio de Janerio, Brazil)
label: Names
content: Supreme Court Building (Mexico City, Mexico)
label: Names
content: United States. Department of the Treasury. Section of Fine Arts
label: Names
content: United States. Department of the Treasury. Section of Painting and Sculpture
label: Names
content: Berenson, Bernard, 1865-1959
label: Names
content: Brewer, Bessie Marsh, d. 1952
label: Names
content: Brooks, Van Wyck, 1886-1963
label: Names
content: Diederich, William Hunt, 1884-1953
label: Names
content: Kuniyoshi, Yasuo, 1889-1953
label: Names
content: Pascin, Jules, 1885-1930
label: Names
content: Poor, Anne, 1911-2011
label: Names
content: Poor, Henry Varnum, 1887-1970
label: Names
content: Pound, Ezra, 1885-1972
label: Names
content: Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945
label: Names
content: Shahn, Ben, 1898-1969
label: Names
content: Sterne, Maurice, 1878-1957
place: label: Place
content: United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945
topic: label: Topic
content: New Deal, 1933-1939
label: Topic
content: Federal aid to the arts
label: Topic
content: Mural painting and decoration, American
label: Topic
content: Art and state -- United States
label: Topic
content: Muralists
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The papers on reels P12-P18 were loaned for microfilming in 1954 by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia, PA. George Biddle lent the material on reel D127 in 1963 and donated the rest of the collection to the Archives of American Art between 1966-1970. In 1972, Michael Biddle, George Biddle's son, gifted a photocopy of an inventory notebook that was discarded after microfilming.
creator: label: Creator
content: Biddle, George, 1885-1973
setName: label: See more items in
content: George Biddle papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of New York painter and muralist George Biddle (1885-1973), measure 0.76 linear feet and date from circa 1910-1970. The collection includes a certificate signed by President Harry Truman, transcripts of Biddle's diaries, a manuscript of a memoir about meeting President Franklin Roosevelt, three letters from William Hunt Diederich's daughter, transcripts of letters from Bernard Berenson, sketches and mural studies, and two glass plate negatives.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: New York painter and muralist George Biddle (1885-1973) proposed to President Franklin Roosevelt the establishment of a federal relief program for artists during the Depression, and subsequently painted a number of government murals under the auspices of the Federal Art Project, including murals for the Department of Justice in 1935. 

Biddle was born to a prominent Philadelphia family and graduated from Harvard College. He studied at the Académie Julian and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and served in the United States Army in World War I, before returning to New York where he had his first series of one-man shows. 

In 1933 Biddle wrote to long-time friend President Franklin Roosevelt, to suggest a work relief program that supported mural painters. Although the idea initially met with opposition, Biddle persisted and the resulting art projects of the Works Progress Administration went on to support the production of thousands of paintings in government buildings throughout the country during the Depression.

In 1940 Biddle was invited by the Mexican government to create a mural for the supreme court building in Mexico City. Biddle had visited Mexico in 1928 where he had traveled and sketched with Diego Rivera, and seen firsthand the value of government sponsored art programs.

In addition to his murals, Biddle was also known for his portraits, lithographs, and paintings. His work can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and others. His work has been shown throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico, Japan, and India in over a hundred one-man shows and group exhibitions.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.76 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1910-1970
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.biddgeor
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Diaries
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as one series.

Series 1: George Biddle Papers, circa 1910-1970 (0.7 linear feet; Box 1, OVs 2-4, MGP4)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: George Biddle loaned typescripts of his diaries to the Archives of American Art between circa 1966 and 1970, in order for staff to type transcripts of the diaries. The collection was microfilmed on reels 3621 and 899 after the creation of the transcripts. The glass plate negatives were re-housed in 2015 with a grant from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund. The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Stephanie Ashley in 2018.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Portions of the collection and material lent for microfilming are available on 35mm microfilm reels 3621, D127, P17-P18, 899 and 4909 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of New York painter and muralist George Biddle (1885-1973), measure 0.76 linear feet and date from circa 1910-1970. The collection includes a certificate signed by President Harry Truman, transcripts of Biddle's diaries, a manuscript of a memoir about meeting President Franklin Roosevelt, three letters from William Hunt Diederich's daughter, transcripts of letters from Bernard Berenson, sketches and mural studies, and two glass plate negatives.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Originals of the edited diary transcripts in this collection are in the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. The unedited diary has many more entries than the edited version and includes more details about Biddle's daily life and work, versions of articles by Biddle, and lists of his works of art through 1934.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming, including one of Biddle's original diaries, 1933-1935 (reel D127), records from the Federal Art Project, personal correspondence, articles and talks relating to Artists Equity (reels P17-P18), and a photocopy of Biddle's inventory notebook listing artwork and exhibitions (reel 4909). While the inventory notebook was discarded after microfilming, all other loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.