Julien Binford (December 25, 1908 – September 12, 1997) was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
. He studied at the
Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
and then in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Settling in
Powhatan County, Virginia
Powhatan County () is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,033. Its county seat is Powhatan.
Powhatan County is included in the Greater Richmond Region.
The James River forms the cou ...
, he was known for his paintings of the rural population of his neighborhood as well as for his murals. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
(1944) he lived in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and painted views of the port during the war. These paintings (4 full pages in color) were featured in ''Life'' magazine. In 1946 he was appointed professor of painting at
Mary Washington College
The University of Mary Washington (UMW) is a public liberal arts university in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the Fredericksburg Teachers College, the institution was named Mary Washington College in 1938 after Mary Ball Washing ...
in
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,982. The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department of Commerce combines the city of Fredericksburg wi ...
, where he worked until his retirement in 1971.
Youth
Julien Binford was born to Julien Binford and Elizabeth Rodman Kennon on December 25, 1908 at Norwood Plantation, his maternal grandfather's estate, in Powhatan County, Virginia. His parents were both from old Southern families and Julien was the first cousin four times removed of Confederate Major General
Henry Heth
Henry Heth ( not ) (December 16, 1825 – September 27, 1899) was a career United States Army officer who became a Confederate general in the American Civil War.
He came to the notice of Robert E. Lee while serving briefly as his quartermast ...
through his mother. He spent his childhood at Norwood before moving to Atlanta, Georgia. After high school, he entered premedical school at
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...
in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. The director of the new Atlanta High Museum noticed his proficiency in rendering dissections and encouraged him to concentrate on developing his painting talent. Following this advice, Binford studied at the Art Institute of Chicago where he excelled. In 1932, he was awarded the Edward L. Ryerson Traveling Fellowship ($2,500) and spent three years studying in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. She was the goddaughter of aviation pioneer Wilbur Wright, who made his first flight in france in honour of her birth. Élisabeth had married Count Jean Maurice Gilbert de Vautibault in 1927 and had published several volumes of poems (under the name
Élisabeth de Vautibault
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
), which were praised by well-known poets such as
Jean Paulhan
Jean Paulhan (2 December 1884 – 9 October 1968) was a French writer, literary critic and publisher, director of the literary magazine ''Nouvelle Revue Française'' (NRF) from 1925 to 1940 and from 1946 to 1968. He was a member (Seat 6, 1963–68 ...
. She divorced de Vautibault after meeting Julien Binford and continued writing poems both in French and in English. She converted from Greek Orthodox (her mother was Greek) to the
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
In 1935, Binford returned to Virginia and bought a small farm called The Foundry. The property had belonged to Thomas Jefferson's father. After having formally surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia, Appomattox Court House, General Lee, while on his way to
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
, spent his last night as a Confederate general on April 14, 1865, camping on the lawn of his brothers property which adjoined the property Julien had recently acquired. The original building of The Foundry was however in ruins and Binford and his wife, Élisabeth, lived in a windy shack with no water, no lights, and no heat. In the first years they lived mainly by farming. After 1945, when their finances had improved, they undertook a massive reconstruction of the buildings.The Foundry
The simple life-style influenced Binford's painting. His work, which in his one-man showings in Paris had been abstract, became more realistic. He relied on his neighbors and their environment for inspiration. Binford established a close relationship with his African-American neighbors, using them as the subject of his work on numerous occasions. Several of his paintings, presented in Manhattan's Midtown Galleries, look like a black-belt village on Saturday afternoon.
One of his most famous works is the mural titled "The Lord Over Jordan" in Shiloh Baptist Church in
Powhatan, Virginia
Powhatan is a census-designated place in and the county seat of Powhatan County, Virginia, United States. Powhatan was initially known as Scottville (after Revolutionary war hero General Charles Scott), and historically has also been known as Pow ...
. This is one of the rare occasions that a black congregation commissioned a white artist to decorate its church. The mural, a 12-foot x 12-foot painting, was unveiled with impressive ceremonies and forms the background to the church's baptismal pool. As the congregation was poor, he agreed to be paid in produce, two wagon loads of chickens, corn, potatoes, and beets, which helped the Binfords tide over the winter.
War years
In the 1940s he developed a relationship with a gallery in New York City. The success of his work allowed Julien and Élisabeth Binford to move to Manhattan because
Life Magazine
''Life'' was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest ma ...
had commissioned him to paint the activities going on in the harbor near the end of the Second World War.
One of the
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
programs for the economic recovery during
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
was designed to provide jobs, not only for manual laborers but for artists as well. The U.S. Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts commissioned the painting of murals on walls of post offices and other public buildings, which lead to a school known as "New Deal Art". One of these was the mural for the Post Office of
Forest, Mississippi
Forest is a city and the county seat of Scott County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 5,684 at the 2010 census and the population is a minority-majority.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total a ...
. The mural intended to illustrate both the name of the city and the lumber industry of the surrounding county. His oil on canvas mural, completed in April 1941, presents four loggers skidding logs out of the woods. The painting, displayed temporarily at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, N.C..
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, was praised by the ''
Charlotte Observer
''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American English-language newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. As of 2020, it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. I ...
''. An editor of the ''
Progressive Farmer
''Progressive Farmer'' is an agricultural magazine, published 14 times a year by DTN. The magazine is based in Birmingham, Alabama.
History
Founded in Winston, North Carolina, in 1886 by North Carolina native Leonidas Lafayette Polk (1837–18 ...
'' called it the best painting he had ever seen in a public building.
The mural was the only one Binford did for the Fine Arts Section. In 1941 Binford was commissioned to paint a mural of the burning of Richmond (1865) for the Post Office of Saunders, Virginia. Intending to illustrate the suffering of the southerners during the last days of the Confederacy, Binford submitted a preliminary sketch showing a street scene with looters, a mother trying to escape with her baby over bodies of dead soldiers lying on the ground, a half-naked woman who had torn off her blouse to prevent herself from being scorched, a horseman riding roughshod over all. The sketch raised controversy. A former president-general of the
United Daughters of the Confederacy
The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, ...
stated: "It is one of the most horrible things I've ever seen.". Bishop James Cannon Jr. of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South
The Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC, S; also Methodist Episcopal Church South) was the American Methodist denomination resulting from the 19th-century split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). Disagreement ...
, who was very influential in Virginia politics, published a criticism in the Richmond ''Times-Dispatch'' indicating: "The woman's back and hips are poorly portrayed.". Though Julien Binford angrily retorted: "When and how did this bishop become an authority on the 'backs and hips' of nude women?", he never got the commission. Another post office mural, in
, is reported as "missing".
However, during 1942 his work received the attention of ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'', ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' and ''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
'', which presented reproductions of some of his paintings. During World War II, he worked on a series of paintings titled "New York Harbor at War" which were published in a special section of ''Life''.University of Mary Washington –
Teaching activity
In 1946 he was appointed professor of painting at
Mary Washington College
The University of Mary Washington (UMW) is a public liberal arts university in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the Fredericksburg Teachers College, the institution was named Mary Washington College in 1938 after Mary Ball Washing ...
in
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,982. The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department of Commerce combines the city of Fredericksburg wi ...
. Among his students was the American artist Anne Everett. He was the organizer of regular meetings with a small group of friends, including Emil Schnellock,
Matila Ghyka
Prince Matila Costiescu Ghyka (; born ''Matila Costiescu''; 13 September 1881 – 14 July 1965), was a Romanian naval officer, novelist, mathematician, historian, philosopher, academic and diplomat. He did not return to Romania after World ...
, and Milton Stansbury.Matila Ghyka – The World Mine Oyster – Heinemann, 1961 He was a faculty member for 25 years until 1971, when he retired to devote more time to his painting. Some of his works are in the Mary Washington University Galleries' permanent collection.
Edward Alvey, Jr., dean of Mary Washington, wrote of Binford:
''He was a warm, friendly, natural person. He painted with a sensitivity and devotion, establishing a feeling of rapport between the artist and the viewer. His work has a freshness and originality that well exemplifies Binford's own zest for life and his desire to share its beauty with others''.
His wife died on July 11, 1984. Julien lived alone for the next ten years and then moved to Charlotte to be with his sister, Eleanor Binford Booth at Southminster retirement center. He died in Charlotte on September 12, 1997, at the age of 88.