Hugo Ballin

Hugo Ballin NA (March 7, 1879 – November 27, 1956[3]) was an American artist, muralist, author, and film director. Ballin was a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters[4] and the National Academy of Design.

Hugo Ballin
Ballin in 1924
Born(1879-03-07)March 7, 1879
New York City, U.S.
DiedNovember 27, 1956(1956-11-27) (aged 77)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.[1]
Years active1910–1956
SpouseMabel Ballin (m.1909)[2]

Biography

Ballin was born in New York City and studied at the Art Students League of New York. When the Wisconsin State Capital was built in the early 20th century, Ballin created 26 murals for its interior.[5] In 1917 he began working for Goldwyn Pictures in New Jersey as an art director and production designer, and in 1921 he moved to Los Angeles at the request of Samuel Goldwyn. 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, 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, Wilshire Boulevard Temple, LA County General Hospital (now known as Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center), and Burbank City Hall.[6]

Ballin became a National Academician in 1906, when the Society of American Artists, 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.[7]

His primary work studio was at his home in Pacific Palisades, California. He is buried in Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica, 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.[8]

Selected murals
Ballin's murals in the lobby of the Los Angeles Times Building
  • Burbank Industry mural (Burbank City Hall)
  • 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.[9] The murals are the only known public frescos created by Ballin.[10]
  • Murals in the Globe Lobby of the Los Angeles Times Building
  • 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 at El Rodeo Elementary School, Beverly Hills
  • The Apotheosis of Power (Southern California Edison Building/One Bunker Hill along with the works of Robert Merrell Gage, Barse Miller and Conrad Buff)
  • The Four Freedoms mural (Burbank City Hall)
  • The March of Science Through the Ages (Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, California)
  • Warner Memorial Murals (Wilshire Boulevard Temple)
  • Water, Power, and Light mural (Burbank Water and Power Administration Building)[11][12]

Selected bibliography

Selected filmography

References
  1. "HUGO BALLIN, 76, NOTED MURALIST; West Coast Artist Dies-- Had Produced 100 Movies, Including 'East Lynne' Decorated B'nai B'rith Temple". The New York Times. 28 November 1956.
  2. Dearinger, David Bernard (2004). Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of Design: 1826-1925. ISBN 9781555950293.
  3. "Burbank, CA : Home". burbankusa.com. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  4. Auchincloss, Louis; Updike, John (1 January 1998). A Century of Arts & Letters: The History of the National Institute of Arts & Letters and the American Academy of Arts & Letters as Told, Decade by Decade, by Eleven Members. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231102483 – via Internet Archive.
  5. Wisconsin.gov - Capitol Tour Archived 2007-05-27 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "LA County Arts Commission - Civic Art Active Projects". lacountyarts.org. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  7. Dearinger, David Bernard (1 January 2004). Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of Design: 1826-1925. Hudson Hills. ISBN 9781555950293 – via Google Books.
  8. "Hugo Ballin". Olympedia. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  9. "Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center | Los Angeles Conservancy". www.laconservancy.org. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  10. "Untitled | LA County Arts Commission". www.lacountyarts.org. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  11. "Water, Power and Light". Grassroots Connection. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  12. "Renovation of Historic Administration Building" (PDF). Burbank Water and Power. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
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