Albert Bloch (Kansas / Missouri, 1882-1961)
ALBERT BLOCH (1882-1961) RARE PENCIL SIGNED DRYPOINT

ALBERT BLOCH (1882-1961) RARE PENCIL SIGNED DRYPOINT
Albert Bloch (Kansas / Missouri, 1882-1961)

Bar

1913

The fine and rare drypoint, numbered 16 from an edition of only 20 pulled, is signed by Albert Bloch in pencil below the image lower right and initialed in the plate lower left.

Works by Albert Bloch rarely appear at auction. No record of this image having ever been offered could be found in any sources. An example from this period in near mint condition is remarkable.

Dr. David Cateforis Chair, History of Art Department, KU University in Lawrence, Kansas has provided an essay on the technique of this print and its historical context.

A significant figure in the history of 20th-century art in the American Midwest, Albert Bloch headed the Department of Drawing and Painting at the University of Kansas from 1923 to 1947. His main claim to art-historical fame, however, is as the only American artist to exhibit with the Munich-based expressionist group der Blaue Reiter (the Blue Rider) in 1911 and 1912. Led by Vasily Kandinsky and Franz Marc, the Blue Rider artists generally conceived of art as an elevated, spiritual calling - an attitude that Bloch embraced from the time of his association with the group.

Born and raised in Saint Louis, Bloch studied at the Saint Louis School of Fine Arts from 1898-1900 and started his career as an illustrator, cartoonist, and caricaturist, principally for the weekly Saint Louis magazine, The Mirror. He moved with his family to Munich in 1909 and continued to work as an illustrator for the next few years while he taught himself to paint by studying the Old Masters and modern French and German painting.

Among the works Bloch created during his early years in Munich were several prints executed with the drypoint technique. In drypoint, the artist cuts lines into a metal printing plate using a needle with a sharp metal or diamond tip. The needle raises ridges of metal along the sides of the cut called the burr. Ink inheres in the incised lines and burr after the surface of the inked plate is wiped clean. The artist lays damp paper over the plate and runs it through a press to transfer the ink to the paper. The burr produces a slightly fuzzy line when printed.

The drypoint, Bar (1913), depicts the interior of a drinking establishment filled with male customers in hats and coats. A rotund bartender at the upper right center presides over the scene. He attends to the three men standing at the bar, which recedes along a diagonal drawing the eye to a group of three standing figures at the right. At the lower right, a smoking man in a bowler hat sits facing the viewer at a round table with a glass of wine. Sketchy lines in several areas of the men's bodies - such as across the back and right arm of the leftmost standing figure - were likely made by a scraper that Bloch used to make corrections in the plate, while a few zigzag lines along the upper left are abstract elements that suggest noise and energy. In amusing contrast to the happily imbibing men, a scrawny dog crouches on the floor next to a food or water bowl whose shadowed concave interior is a black ellipse. Bloch signed the plate at the lower left with his cursive monogram combining the letters A and B. Signs in English on the back wall suggest that this is an English or American bar rather than a German one. Perhaps Bloch included this verbiage as an ''exotic'' element that might appeal to German art buyers while making the print accessible to potential customers back in his home country. Bloch's informal composition creates a relaxed atmosphere that invites viewers to imagine themselves sitting at a table and enjoying a drink in this space, as Bloch himself may have done while observing or sketching it.

Plate size 9.5 x 12, sheet measures 14.75 x 22, frame is 22 x 24.5 inches.

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Dimensions
Plate size 9.5 x 12, sheet measures 14.75 x 22, frame is 22 x 24.5 inches.

Condition
Very good condition, very clean, the full untrimmed sheet with intact edges, not laid down, no damage, stain, punctures, tears or repair; professionally framed to archival standards in acid free mounts.

Provenance
The property of a private Midwest institution.