1933

Self-Portrait

American, 1885 - 1973

The painter, printmaker, and sculptor George Biddle was born in Philadelphia and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, but his style was strongly shaped by encounters with Modernist art during early travels in Europe and Mexico. By the 1930s, Biddle had become associated with Social Realism, an artistic trend that focused on contemporary American life. His works during that period ranged from large murals in government buildings to small canvases like this one, which depicts the artist out in the woods on a cold autumn day, possibly near his home in Upstate New York.