Lucienne Bloch (1909-1999) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

-born American artist. She was best known for her

murals A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

and for her association with the Mexican artist

Diego Rivera Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) was a Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the Mexican muralism, mural movement in Mexican art, Mexican and international art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted mural ...

, for whom she produced the only existing photographs of Rivera's mural ''

Man at the Crossroads ''Man at the Crossroads'' (1933) was a fresco by Mexican painter Diego Rivera. Originally slated to be installed in the lobby of the 30 Rockefeller Plaza, RCA Building at Rockefeller Center in New York City, the fresco showed aspects of contempo ...

'', painted in 1933 and destroyed in January 1934 at

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

in New York City.

Biography

Bloch was born on January 5, 1909 in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Switzerland. In 1917, the Bloch family emigrated to America. Lucienne attended the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in nor ...

in Paris at 14, apprenticing with sculptor

Antoine Bourdelle Antoine Bourdelle (; 30 October 1861 – 1 October 1929), born Émile Antoine Bordelles, was an influential and prolific French sculptor and teacher. He was a student of Auguste Rodin, a teacher of Giacometti and Henri Matisse, and an important ...

and painter Andre Lhote. In 1929, she pioneered the design of glass sculpture for the Royal Leerdam Crystal Glass Factory in the Netherlands. When

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...

saw her glass works and spoke with her in New York, he invited her to teach at his architectural school, Taliesin East, where she worked with artist and muralist

Santiago Martínez Delgado Santiago Martínez Delgado (1906–1954) was a Colombian painter, sculptor, art historian and writer. He established a reputation as a prominent muralist during the 1940s and is also known for his watercolors, oil paintings, illustrations and ...

and other Taliesin fellows. In 1931, Bloch had met and began her apprenticeship with

on his frescoes in New York (1931, 1933) and Detroit (1932). She also formed a close friendship with Rivera's wife

Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by Culture of Mexico, the country' ...

, and they became each other's companion and confidant. In 1932 she accompanied Kahlo to Mexico when Kahlo's mother became ill. She was also with Kahlo in Detroit when Kahlo had her miscarriage. A prolific photographer, Bloch contributed many photographs of Rivera and Kahlo to biographical works about them. She took the only existing photographs of Rivera's (controversially) destroyed mural, ''

'', in

Plaza in New York City. She created five portfolios of photographs of Rivera and Kahlo, including photos of Kahlo's paintings in progress, and the artists in New York City, Detroit, and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Block married fellow artist Stephen Pope Dimitroff (1910-1996) and the couple created murals for a time before Dimitroff became a union organizer in Flint, Michigan. From 1935 to 1939, Bloch was employed by the WPA/ FAP (Works Progress Administration/Federal Arts Project). As a WPA/ FAP artist, she completed murals for public buildings, including the House of Detention for Women in New York City, and the

Fort Thomas, Kentucky Fort Thomas is a home rule-class city in Campbell County, Kentucky, United States, on the southern bank of the Ohio River and the site of an 1890 US Army post. The population was 17,483 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in Campbe ...

post office. The mural for the House of Detention for Women commissioned by the Federal Arts Project was entitled ''The Cycle of a Woman's Life''. It was planned to cover three wall of the 12th-floor recreation room, but only one wall was completed. She also illustrated numerous children's books, of which the Library of Congress lists: * ''I Want to Fly'', by

Anita Brenner Anita Brenner (born Hanna Brenner; 13 August 1905 – 1 December 1974) was a transnational Jewish scholar and intellectual, who wrote extensively in English about the art, culture, and history of Mexico. She was born in Mexico, and raised and ...

, (1943) * ''Willie's Walk to Grandmama'', by

Margaret Wise Brown Margaret Wise Brown (May 23, 1910 – November 13, 1952) was an American writer of children's books, including ''Goodnight Moon'' (1947) and ''The Runaway Bunny'' (1942), both illustrated by Clement Hurd. She has been called "the laureate of the ...

and Rockbridge Campbell (1944) * ''Keep Singing, Keep Humming: A Collection of Play and Story Songs'', by

Margaret Bradford Boni Margaret Taylor Bradford Boni (November 23, 1892 – November 26, 1974) was an American music educator and folklorist. She edited several books of popular music, including ''The Fireside Book of Folk Songs'' (1947). She taught music at the City a ...

(1946) * ''Smart Little Boy and His Smart Little Kitty'', by

Louise Woodcock Louise most commonly refers to: * Louise (given name) Louise or Luise may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Songs * "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929 * "Louise", by The Yardbirds from the album ''Five Live Yardbirds'', 1964 * "Louise ...

'' (1947) * ''Is it Hard? Is it Easy?'' by Mary McBurney Green (1948) * ''Everybody Eats'', by Mary McBurney Green (1950) * ''Sandpipers'',

Edith Thacher Hurd Edith Thacher Hurd (September 14, 1910 – January 25, 1997) was an American writer of children's books. She published 70 books in her lifetime,Saxon, Wolfgang"William Rufus Scott, 86, Pioneer In Children's Book Publishing,"''The New York Times'' ...

(1961) * ''Starfish'',

(1962) In 1956 Bloch's prints were included in the exhibition "Women Printmakers" at the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

. In 1964 Bloch was interviewed for the ''

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...

New Deal and the Arts Project'' now in the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. Bloch died on March 13, 1999 in Gualala, California. Her work is in the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

and

The New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

References

External links

Lucienne Bloch on Artsy
Web page on Bloch's 1935 woodcut ''Land of Plenty'' (click on picture for larger image)
Fresco workshop - Lucienne Block and Stephen Pope Dimitroff
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloch, Lucienne 1909 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American women painters 20th-century American painters 20th-century American photographers 20th-century American women photographers Swiss emigrants to the United States 20th-century Swiss Jews American muralists Swiss muralists American people of Swiss-Jewish descent École des Beaux-Arts alumni Federal Art Project artists Jewish American artists American women muralists 20th-century American Jews