Josef Block (27 November 1863 – 20 December 1943) was a German

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

Life and career

Block was born in Bernstadt an der Weide (Bierutów) in Prussian Silesia. He was a scholar of the Breslau (Wrocław) Art Academy, where his lifelong friendship with German dramatist Gerhart Hauptmann was established. He continued his studies at the

Munich Academy of Fine Arts The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (german: Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavar ...

; in the studio of his tutor Professor

Bruno Piglhein Elimar Ulrich Bruno Piglhein (19 February 1848, in Hamburg – 15 July 1894, in Munich) was a German sculptor and painter. He was a founder and first President of the Munich Secession. Life His father was a decorator. Upon graduating from the ...

, Block was involved in painting Piglhein's Jerusalem Panorama.The Panorama, History of a mass medium
at www.prof-bruno-piglhein.de On 29 February 1892, the Society of Visual Artists of Munich was founded in his studio at Munich's Theresienstrasse, which was to be the basis of the Munich Secession, a movement of artists who felt that art was not sufficiently contemporary and open. This happened in preparation for the World Columbian Exposition 1893 in Chicago, where Block won a medal for his painting 'Twilight'. In 1895 Block married Else Oppenheim, the daughter of banker and councilor of commerce Hugo Otto Oppenheim and a descendant of banker

Joseph Mendelssohn Joseph Mendelssohn (11 August 1770 – 24 November 1848) was a German Jewish banker. He was the oldest son of the influential philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. In 1795, he founded his own banking house. In 1804, his younger brother, Abraham Mend ...

. After living in Munich until 1896 he moved to Berlin. He continued painting biblical histories, realistic genre paintings, portraits and still lifes, selling paintings in Germany and the United States. Further expositions include the Grand Berlin Art Exposition and Paul Cassirer's parlor. Block was also a co-founder of the Berlin Secession, a movement similar to the Munich Secession. Other members of the Berlin Secession include Lovis Corinth, Max Liebermann, and

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...

. Block liked traveling and was a passionate photographer. Block was persecuted by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

in 1933, due to his Jewish ancestry, and forced to sell paintings from his collection. His apartment at Derfflinger Str. 16 in Berlin was seized by the Generalbauinspektor under

Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as the Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of World War II. A close ally of Adolf Hitler, he ...

. He died in Berlin in 1943.

Selected works

* ''Christ and the Samaritan'' (1887) * ''The last ray of sun'' (1888) * ''Bathseba'' (1889) * ''The lost son'' (1890 in Munich, 1891 golden medal in Berlin) * ''Twilight'' (realistic interieur, 1893 medal in Chicago) * ''The new master'' (Munich Secession 1894) * ''Adulteress'' (1897) * ''Saul and David'' (1899) * ''Pietà'' (1902) * ''Judith'' (1904-1905) * ''South Italian Scene'' (around 1930) * ''The scientist'' (1942)

Notes

Sources

* Lorenz, Detlef: Zur Biographie des schlesischen Malers Josef Block. In: Jahrbuch der Schlesischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Breslau 42-44 (2001-2003) 003 709-714. * Tschörtner, Heinz Dieter: Gerhart Hauptmanns letzter Jugendfreund Josef Block aus Bernstadt (1863-1943). In: Jahrbuch der Schlesischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Breslau 38/39 (1997/1998) 998 773-781. {{DEFAULTSORT:Block, Josef 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists People from Bierutów People from the Province of Silesia 19th-century German Jews German male painters Jewish painters 1863 births 1943 deaths Mendelssohn family Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni

Life and career

Selected works

See also

Notes

Sources