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But of chief interest to Philadelphians was a large canvas by Philadelphia's excellent, liberal artist, George Biddle, entitled Family Portrait (see cut). It shows the tousled artist in his famous grey-green suit, his brother Francis, lawyer and onetime chairman of the first National Labor Relations Board, in a blue coat, and the youngest of the Biddle brothers, Sydney, a Philadelphia psychiatrist. Absent is the eldest brother, Moncure ("Monk") Biddle. An investment broker, he alone of the four upholds the tradition of their ancestor, Nicholas Biddle, who was president of the Bank of the United States and Andrew Jackson's great antagonist (and incidentally the first benefactor of the Pennsylvania Academy). Commissioned by Brother Francis, the painting was done during the hottest part of last July, which is why "they all look sort of droopy," as Mrs. Francis Biddle put it.
