1882-19611882-1961
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, of Czechoslovakian and German-Jewish ancestry, Albert Bloch
spent his formative years in the Midwest. He first studied art at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts (now
part of Washington University). Like many of his contemporaries,
Bloch earned a living from commercial art, and between 1905
and 1908 he worked as a caricaturist and illustrator for
William Marion Reedy’s literary and political weekly The Mirror. Noticing Bloch’s artistic talent,
Reedy provided him with a monthly stipend to study abroad. At the beginning of 1909, Bloch
sailed for Europe.
) From Hollis Taggart Galleries(
The Professor, 1909
ClownsClowns
Between 1909 and 1921, Bloch lived and worked mainly in Germany,
making brief visits to other countries on the Continent and to
America. His decision to settle in Munich, then a thriving art center,
rested largely on his language skills—he had learned German from his
parents. Although Reedy pressed Bloch to attend classes at the Royal
Bavarian Academy in Munich, Bloch never enrolled, preferring instead
to take lessons from painters working in the academic style outside
the academy .
Initially Bloch displayed little interest
in the revolutionary aesthetics that
had been advanced in European art
around the turn of the century, but a
1910 trip to Paris opened his eyes to
the works of Vincent van Gogh,
Pablo Picasso, and Odilon Redon.
The following year, he saw a
catalogue of the second exhibition of
the Neue Künstlervereinigung
München (the New Arts’ Union of
Munich), which included
reproductions of works by, among
others, Pablo Picasso, Georges
Braque, Georges Rouault, and
Wassily Kandinsky. Bloch felt an
immediate kinship with these
artists. .
Portrait of a Man 1911Portrait of a Man 1911
In December 1911, Wassily
Kandinsky and Franz Marc invited
an international group of artists to
participate in the first Blue Rider
exhibition. While the artists' styles
varied, they shared an interest in
abstraction, Expressionism, and
the symbolic and psychological
effects of color. The exhibition
included works by 14 artists,
including Gabriele Münter, Marc,
Kandinsky, and Schoenberg.
Albert Bloch, a Jewish artist from
St. Louis, was the only American
member of the Blue Rider group.
He had moved to Munich in early
1909, where he met Kandinsky
and showed six works in the first
Blue Rider exhibition, including
Head.
Head, 1911
Harlequinade 1911Harlequinade 1911
Procession of the Cross 1911
RagtimeRagtime19111911
The Four Pierrots1912
Duel 1912
Bloch established a successful career in Germany and remained there,
exhibiting his work through World War I. In 1912, he showed at the
second Blaue Reiter exhibition, and he was included in the 1912
Sonderbund Exhibition in Cologne, the most famous exhibition of
modernism in Europe at that time. The only painting by Bloch accepted for
this show was The Duel, a 1912 painting that recalls Edvard Munch’s haunting and mysterious figurative
works. That same year, Bloch showed at Herwarth Walden’s Der Sturm
Gallery in Berlin, participating in a small exhibition that featured paintings rejected from the
Sonderbund exhibit. Walden, one of the foremost proponents of
modernism in Europe, fashioned this 1912 exhibition as a protest against
the Sonderbund show that, he believed, had not adequately
represented members of the Blaue Reiter group .
The Green Dress, 1913
Boxkampf 1913
Landscape 1913Landscape 1913
Summer Night 1913Summer Night 1913 AlbertAlbert BlochBloch--
Musicians 1913
Harlequin mit drei Pierots 1914
Stilleben XI
Still Life 1914
Bloch’s acclaim also reached the American art
world. At Kandinsky’s recommendation, Arthur
Jerome Eddy, the Chicago collector and tireless
promoter of modernism, began buying Bloch’s
paintings and eventually added more than twenty-
five of them to his collection. In 1915, Eddy’s collection of paintings by Bloch comprised a one-
man show at the Art Institute of Chicago; the exhibition traveled to the St. Louis Art Museum.
Pilgrims in the Snow1917-25
Winter, 1918
Interieur 1920
Souvenir, 1921
In 1921, disheartened at what Germany had become after the war, Bloch returned to the United States, where he lived until his death in 1961. Finding himself in dire financial straits, Bloch decided to become a
teacher. His first position began in 1922 at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, but lasted only one year. From 1923 until his retirement in 1947,
Bloch was Professor and Head of the Department of Drawing and Painting at the University of Kansas .
Bloch led a full life of painting, writing, and teaching and found contentment far from the art centers of Europe and America. He
frequently chose biblical subject matter or sweeping emotional themes of anguish or exaltation. Wishing to remain “invisible” and unwilling to trade on his European connections, Bloch and his work faded from
public view. Over time, Bloch’s reticence about discussing his former affiliation with the Blaue Reiter artists obscured his early contributions to
an important passage in the history of art .
For a Cycle of the Creation: The Sixth Day, 1922
Hospital, 1933
MountainMountain
The Blue Bough 1952
Throughout his career, Bloch destroyed any paintings that, from his point of view, were unsuccessful. Regrettably, many more early works in German collections were destroyed in the bombings of World War II, while others were banished to Switzerland by the Nazis as “degenerate
art.” Extant examples of his work from this early period are rare and valuable historical documents .
Hollis Taggart Galleries
Passing Train, 1947-1948
Throughout his career,
Bloch destroyed any
paintings that, from his
point of view, were
unsuccessful. Regrettably,
many more early works in
German collections were
destroyed in the bombings
of World War II, while
others were banished to
Switzerland by the Nazis as
“degenerate art.” Extant
examples of his work from
this early period are rare
and valuable historical
documents March of the Clowns, 1941
The Blind Man1942
Conversation 1950
The Blue Eclipse 1955
The Grieving women, 1950-1957The Grieving women, 1950-1957--
Prodigal1958-59
Group of Three
מקורות:מקורות:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Bloch
http://www.hollistaggart./albert_blochhttp://www.hollistaggart./albert_bloch//
httphttp://://www2www2..kuku..eduedu//~maxkade~maxkade//selections_from_abscselections_from_absc..htmhtm
httphttp://://wwwwww..artcyclopediaartcyclopedia..comcom//artistsartists//bloch_albertbloch_albert..htmlhtml
http://collection.spencerart.ku.edu/eMuseumhttp://collection.spencerart.ku.edu/eMuseum
httphttp://://cgfacgfa..acropolisincacropolisinc..comcom//blochbloch//indexindex..htmlhtml
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