Banana Grove
George Biddle (1885-1973), Banana Grove, lithograph, 1928. Signed, titled and numbered in pencil [also annotated in the plate “Biddle/1928, lower right “47). References: Pennigar 81, Trotter 47. In excellent condition, the full sheet, on cream wove BFK RIVES paper, with their (partial) watermark. 12 1/2 x 9, the sheet 20 x 16, archival mounting (non attached mylar hinging between acid free board, glassine cover).
A fine fresh rich impression in pristine condition.
After Groton, Harvard College and Harvard Law (and several breakdowns) Biddle decided that a conventional career in law was not for him; he decided on art, went to Paris, worked with Mary Cassatt and familiarized himself with modernist currents in art (as well as more traditional European art).
After his service in WWI, and the dissolution of his marriage, he became interested in working outside of the European tradition (although his travels continued to include Europe, and he spent a period working under the influence of Jules Pascin in Paris in the mid-20’s). Banana Grove reflects the time he spent with Pascin, in terms of the freedom of the composition, and the suspension of the figures on a flat surface. It was made in 1928, the year Biddle traveled to Haiti with Diego Rivera.