Hugo Ballin NA (March 7, 1879 – November 27, 1956) was an American artist, muralist, author, and film director. Ballin was a member of the

National Institute of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

and the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

Biography

Ballin was born in New York City and studied at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

. When the Wisconsin State Capital was built in the early 20th century, Ballin created 26 murals for its interior. In 1917 he began working for

Goldwyn Pictures Goldwyn Pictures Corporation was an American motion picture production company that operated from 1916 to 1924 when it was merged with two other production companies to form the major studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was founded on November 19, 1 ...

in New Jersey as an art director and production designer, and in 1921 he moved to Los Angeles at the request of

Samuel Goldwyn Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz; yi, שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor a ...

. He was soon also directing, writing, and producing silent films for his own production company. He was married to the actress Mabel Croft Ballin. When Hollywood began making

talking pictures A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

, Ballin left the film industry to return to his first career as a classically trained artist. He became one of the foremost muralists in the Los Angeles area, producing murals which still stand at landmark locations such as

Griffith Observatory Griffith Observatory is an observatory in Los Angeles, California on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park. It commands a view of the Los Angeles Basin including Downtown Los Angeles to the southeast, Hollywood to the sout ...

Wilshire Boulevard Temple Wilshire Boulevard Temple, known from 1862 to 1933 as Congregation B'nai B'rith, is the oldest Jewish congregation in Los Angeles, California. Wilshire Boulevard Temple's main building, with a sanctuary topped by a large Byzantine revival dome an ...

, LA County General Hospital (now known as

Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center, also known as County/USC, or by the abbreviation LAC+USC (and sometimes still referred to by its former name Los Angeles County General), is a 600-bed public teaching hospital located at 2051 Marengo Street in ...

), and Burbank City Hall. Ballin became a

National Academician The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...

in 1906, when the

Society of American Artists The Society of American Artists was an American artists group. It was formed in 1877 by artists who felt the National Academy of Design did not adequately meet their needs, and was too conservative. The group began meeting in 1874 at the home of ...

, to which he was elected in 1905, merged with the Nation Academy of Design. That same year, Ballin received the National Academy of Design's Thomas B. Clarke Prize for his work, "Mother and Child". In 1940, for his work "The Deposition", depicting Christ being removed from the cross, he was again awarded the Clarke Prize, a rare occurrence in Academy history. His primary work studio was at his home in

Pacific Palisades, California Pacific Palisades is a neighborhood in the Westside Los Angeles, Westside region of Los Angeles, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. Pacific Palisades was formally founded in 1921 by a Chautauqua, Methodist organization, an ...

. He is buried in

Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica Woodlawn Cemetery, Mausoleum & Mortuary, formerly Ballona Cemetery, is located at 1847 14th Street, alongside Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica, California, United States. The cemetery is owned and operated by the city of Santa Monica. The cemetery ...

, location of one of his final commissions, a set of frescoes depicting the life and death of Christ. His work was also part of the painting event in the art competition at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

Selected murals

*''Burbank Industry'' mural (

Burbank City Hall Burbank City Hall is the site of the municipal government of Burbank, California, Burbank, California, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Designed by architects William Allen and W. George Lutzi in the Streamline Moderne, M ...

) *A series of fresco murals depicting the medical sciences in the vaults and groins of the entry to Los Angeles County General Hospital (nka LAC-USC Medical Center), a building also containing works by sculptor S. Cartaino Scarpitta. The murals are the only known public frescos created by Ballin. *Murals in the Globe Lobby of the

Los Angeles Times Building Times Mirror Square is a complex of buildings on the block bounded by Spring, Broadway, First and Second streets in the Civic Center district of Downtown Los Angeles. It was headquarters of the ''Los Angeles Times'' until 2018. It is current ...

*Six murals depicting California history (''La Brea Tar Pits'', ''Spanish Period'', ''Treaty of Cauenga'', ''First Survey of Los Angeles'', ''Coming of the Railroad'' and ''The Modern Scene'') in the elevator lobby of the Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building/Los Angeles Public Library *''Rudimentary Education,'' a mural sponsored and commissioned by the federal

Public Works of Art Project The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) was a New Deal program designed to employ artists that operated from 1933 to 1934. The program was headed by Edward Bruce, under the United States Treasury Department with funding from the Civil Works Admin ...

at El Rodeo Elementary School,

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...

*''The Apotheosis of Power'' (Southern California Edison Building/One Bunker Hill along with the works of

Robert Merrell Gage Robert Merrell Gage (December 26, 1892 – October 30, 1981) was an American sculptor, frequently credited or referred to as Merrell Gage. Biography Gage was born in Topeka, Kansas and studied in the Topeka public schools and at Washburn Universit ...

, Barse Miller and

Conrad Buff Conrad Buff IV (born July 8, 1948) is an American film editor with more than 25 film credits since 1985. Buff is known for winning an Academy Award for Best Film Editing and an ACE Eddie Award for ''Titanic'' (1997); the awards were shared with hi ...

) *''The Four Freedoms'' mural (

) *''The March of Science Through the Ages'' (

, Los Angeles, California) *''Warner Memorial Murals'' (

) *''Water, Power, and Light'' mural (Burbank Water and Power Administration Building)

Selected bibliography

''Mural Paintings in the Executive Chamber State Capitol Building, Madison, Wis.''
(1913) *''The Broken Toy'' (1924) *''The Woman at the Door'' (1925) *''Stigma'' (1928) *''Dolce Far Niente'' (1933)

Selected filmography

* '' Baby Mine'' (1917) * '' Thais'' (1917) * '' Back to the Woods'' (1918) * '' The Glorious Adventure'' (1918) * ''

The Face in the Dark ''The Face in the Dark'' is a 1918 American silent mystery film directed by Hobart Henley and starring Mae Marsh, Niles Welch and Alec B. Francis.Wlaschin p.80 The film's sets were designed by the art director Hugo Ballin. Cast * Mae Marsh as Jan ...

'' (1918) * ''

The Kingdom of Youth ''The Kingdom of Youth'' is a 1918 American silent comedy film directed by Clarence G. Badger and starring Madge Kennedy, Tom Moore and Marie De Wolfe.McCaffrey & Jacobs p.124 The film's sets were designed by the art director Hugo Ballin. Cas ...

'' (1918) * '' Lord and Lady Algy'' (1919) * ''

Pagan Love ''Pagan Love'' is a 1920 American silent romantic drama film produced and directed by Hugo Ballin and starring his wife Mabel Ballin, Togo Yamamoto, and Rockliffe Fellowes. Its alternate title is ''The Honourable Gentleman'', which is also t ...

'' (1920) * ''

East Lynne ''East Lynne'' is an English sensation novel of 1861 by Ellen Wood, writing as Mrs Henry Wood. A Victorian best-seller, it is remembered chiefly for its elaborate and implausible plot, centring on infidelity and double identities. There have ...

'' (1921) * ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...

'' (1921) * '' The Journey's End'' (1921) * ''

Other Women's Clothes ''Other Women's Clothes'' is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Hugo Ballin and starring Mabel Ballin, Raymond Bloomer and Crauford Kent.Munden p.393 Synopsis Wishing to help financially support a struggling model he has fallen in lov ...

'' (1922) * ''

Married People ''Married People'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC as part of its 1990–91 schedule. It was a production of Sternin & Fraser Ink, Inc. in association with Columbia Pictures Television and aired between September 18, 1990 and ...

'' (1922) * '' Vanity Fair'' (1923) * '' Souls for Sale'' (1923) * ''

The Prairie Wife ''The Prairie Wife'' is a 1925 American silent Western film directed by Hugo Ballin and featuring Boris Karloff, and based on a story by Arthur Stringer. The film is considered to be lost. Plot As described in a film magazine review, a teleg ...

'' (1925) * ''

The Shining Adventure ''The Shining Adventure'' is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Hugo Ballin and starring Percy Marmont, Mabel Ballin Mabel Ballin (née Croft; January 1, 1885 – July 24, 1958), was an American motion-picture actress of the silent ...

'' (1925) * ''

The Love of Sunya ''The Love of Sunya'' (also known as ''The Loves of Sunya'') is an American silent drama film made in 1927. It was directed by Albert Parker, and was based on the play ''The Eyes of Youth'' by Max Marcin and Charles Guernon. Produced by and st ...

'' (1927) produced by and starring

Gloria Swanson Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most f ...

References

External links

''"Hugo Ballin's Los Angeles"'' web essay by Caroline Luce
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballin, Hugo 1879 births 1956 deaths Art Students League of New York alumni Silent film directors American art directors American production designers American muralists Burials at Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica National Academy of Design members Painters from New York City 20th-century American painters American male painters Olympic competitors in art competitions 20th-century American male artists Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters