Julien Binford
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Julien Binford | |
|---|---|
 Julien Binford in 1944 | |
| Born | December 25, 1908 |
| Died | September 12, 1997 (aged 88) Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Occupation | Painter |
| Spouse | Élisabeth Bollée (1908–1984) |
| Parent(s) | Julien Hall Binford, Jr. and Elizabeth R. Kennon from Norwood plantation, Powhatan county, Virginia |
Julien Binford (December 25, 1908 – September 12, 1997)[1] was an American painter. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and then in France. Settling in Powhatan County, Virginia, he was known for his paintings of the rural population of his neighborhood as well as for his murals. During World War II (1944) he lived in New York City 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 in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he worked until his retirement in 1971.
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 through his mother. He spent his childhood at Norwood before moving to Atlanta, Georgia. After high school, he entered premedical school at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The director of the new Atlanta High Museum noticed his proficiency in rendering dissections and encouraged him to concentrate on developing his painting talent.[2] 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.
In France he met Élisabeth Bollée de Vautibault (b. August 9, 1908), daughter of Carlotta and Léon Bollée, a French automobile manufacturer before World War I. She was the goddaughter of aviation pioneer Wilbur Wright, who made his first flight in france in honour of her birth.[3] Élisabeth had married Count Jean Maurice Gilbert de Vautibault in 1927 and had published several volumes of poems (under the name Élisabeth de Vautibault), which were praised by well-known poets such as Jean Paulhan and Léon-Paul Fargue. 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)[3] to the Baptist faith after moving to America before she married Julien.[4]
The early years
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 Court House, General Lee, while on his way to Richmond, 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.[5]
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. 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.[6]
