George Biddle Sites

The New Deal is responsible for a magnificent array of artworks that embellish the Department of Justice building. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts commissioned artists to create 68 murals between 1936 and 1941 for $68,000, or one percent of the building cost.  The building’s murals depict scenes of daily life from American history and allegories on the role of justice in American society. George Biddle painted a five-panel fresco mural, "Society Freed through Justice," in 1936.  The second panel was restored c. 1973, after damage to the wall behind it. "This five-panel mural illustrates the importance of justice in the lives of...

The Pierre Van Cortlandt School was completed and opened in January 1940. The school was built as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project, a New Deal progream established under Franklin Roosevelt. The building has some beautiful artwork, including a stone relief on the grand staircase, sculptures on the gymnasium walls, and a stunning stained glass window. The stained glass window depicts a sailboat that appears to be floating on the actual Hudson river. The artwork was done under the auspices of the Federal Art Project.

In 1937, Milford Zornes (assisted by George Biddle) painted an enormous oil-on-canvas mural, "California Landscape," in the Claremont, CA, post office. The mural was funded by the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP). The 58' x 3'4" mural wraps around all four walls of the lobby. "There are clusters of trees, people walking along a road, a farmer leading two plough horses, and a couple in Mexican finery dancing. Bridges Auditorium, meant to represent Pomona College and the importance of higher education, is also portrayed" (Dunitz, p. 343). Zornes was an Oklahoma-born watercolorist for whom Western landscapes were a favorite subject. He also...

The post office contains three murals by George Biddle painted in 1939 with Treasury Section of Fine Arts funds, each depicting a historical scene from the region: "George Washington with De Witt, Geographer of the Revolutionary Army" "Washington Retreating from New Brunswick" "Howe and Cornwallis Entering New Brunswick"