Immigrants, 1960
Printmaker, illustrator, painter and writer Pearl Binder was born into a Jewish family in Fenton, Staffordshire on 28 June 1904; her father was a tailor. In 1925 she began studying lithography at Central School of Arts and Crafts and settled in London’s East End, becoming actively involved with the life there; in accordance with her socialist views, she was also a founder member of the Artists International Association (AIA) in 1933, and occasionally contributed illustrations to the magazine 'Left Review' (a journal set up by the British section of the Comintern-sponsored International Union of Revolutionary Writers) in the 1930s. She also worked as a freelance artist, writer, lecturer, designer of stained glass and crockery for Wedgwood, visiting Russia on several occasions, where she exhibited drawings and prints of East End life and contributed to the satirical magazine ‘Krokodil’; her images of miners were included in the AIA’s travelling exhibition ‘Britain Today’ in 1939. She also designed costumes for her own plays and musicals and was involved with programme designs for BBC television (two examples were included in the exhibition 'Jewish Stage and Film Designers' at Ben Uri Gallery in 1999). During the Second World war she was involved in the government information service and married Elwyn Jones (later Lord Chancellor), when he was reading for the Bar. She was described as ‘a Bohemian in the heart of the Establishment’ and remained active in many causes. She died in Brighton, England on 25 January 1990. Her work is represented in UK collections including the British Museum and the V&A.
