Background
Pearl "Polly" Binder was born in Salford. Her father was Jacob Binderevski, a Russian-Ukrainian Jewish tailor who came to Britain in 1890 and shortly afterwards became a British citizen.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
Pearl Binder
Edit ProfileEducation
Binder moved to London after the first world war and studied art at Central School of Art and Design.
Career
She was a legendary character who had a lifelong fascination with the East End of London, where she settled in the 1920s. In this time Binder drew scenes from everyday life in London that she made into lithographs. She published a series that illustrated "The Real East End" by Thomas Burke, a popular writer who ran a public in Poplar at the time.
Binder"s illustrations are an intimate, first-hand portrayal of grimy London life in that era.
Binder was also one of the founders of the left-wing organisation Artists" International Association. In 1937 Binder was involved in the earliest days of television broadcasting for children.
Also in 1937, she co-presented Clothes-Lincolnshire with the fashion historian James Laver. This live six-part series was the first television programme on the history of fashion.
In the course of her life Binder travelled extensively in Russia and China, designed a musical, designed costumes for a theatre company, wrote stories for children, designed a Pearly mug and plate for Wedgwood and instigated and executed 22 armorial windows at the House of Lords.
-
Born
-
Died
1990 (aged 85) -
Nationality
United Kingdom