Archives of American Art

George Biddle letters to Constance Biddle

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.biddgeol
Creators:
Biddle, George, 1885-1973
Dates:
1943-1945
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
2 Items
(4 p. on partial microfilm reel)
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
To his cousin Constance, 1943 Feb. 7, Biddle writes about being named chairman of the War Department's Art Advisory Board which entailed selecting and sending artists (including himself) to North Africa and Italy to create a pictorial war record. "...not factual reportage," he adds, "but the emotional impact of the war on an artist...I am very interested to [sic] in inducting writers into the set-up. John Steinbeck is one of my Committee and I hope to make up that question with McCloy [assistant Sec. of War] next week."
Scope and Contents
In the second letter, 1945 Mar. 27, written from San Angel, Mexico, Biddle mostly describes a stabbing accident undergone by his son, Michael; he briefly discusses the gloomy economic situation in Mexico.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Biddle, a painter, Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., is known as the person responsible for recommending to Franklin Roosevelt a federal art program for artists, giving rise to the Public Works of Art Project and subsequent art projects of the Treasury Department and Works Progress Administration.
Biographical / Historical
Biddle's drawings from World War II were published in Artist At War (New York: The Viking Press, 1944)

Administration

Existence and Location of Copies
35mm microfilm reel 4909 (fr. 46-52) available for use at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
Existence and Location of Originals
Originals returned to the lender, Helen Zimmerman, after microfilming.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Lent for microfilming 1994 by Helen Zimmermann, who was raised by Constance Biddle and her sister; the letters were among Constance's effects at her death.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Art and war Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Biddle, Constance Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States. War Dept.Art Advisory Committee Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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