Albert Bloch: Prints and Drawings

Albert Bloch (1882–1961) was the sole American artist affiliated with der Blaue Reiter (the Blue Rider), an important group of innovative artists active in Munich, Germany, from 1911 to 1914. Bloch, who traveled to Germany to create drawings and caricatures for the Saint Louis–based weekly Reedy's Mirror, was invited to exhibit with the Blaue Reiter by Vasily Kandinsky. He became well acquainted with Kandinsky and other members of the Blaue Reiter, forming an especially strong friendship with Franz Marc.

Throughout his residence in Germany (1909–1922), Bloch was active in painting, drawing, and printmaking. All thirty-seven of his known prints were made while he was in Germany, and all thirty-seven will be exhibited at the Spencer Museum of Art, thanks to generous loans from the Albert Bloch Foundation.

In 1923, Bloch accepted a position as full professor in the Department of Drawing and Painting at the University of Kansas, where he worked until his retirement in 1947. In addition to the prints already mentioned, this exhibition includes drawings from throughout Bloch’s career, most of them loans from the Albert Bloch Foundation, as well as several of Bloch's paintings owned by the Spencer Museum of Art.