Lucienne Bloch (January 5, 1909 – March 13, 1999) was a Switzerland-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 María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...

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

Man at the Crossroads ''Man at the Crossroads'' (1934) was a fresco by Diego Rivera in New York City's Rockefeller Center. It was originally slated to be installed in the lobby of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the main building of the center. ''Man at the Crossroads'' showed ...

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

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

in New York City.

Career

Background

Bloch was born in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, Switzerland, the youngest child of composer and photographer

Ernest Bloch Ernest Bloch (July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was a Swiss-born American composer. Bloch was a preeminent artist in his day, and left a lasting legacy. He is recognized as one of the greatest Swiss composers in history. As well as producing music ...

. In 1917, the Bloch family emigrated to America. A multi-talented artist, Lucienne attended the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French ''grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Science ...

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 fi ...

and painter Andre Lhote. Her close friend Beniamino Bufano also influenced her sculpture.

With Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo

In 1929, she pioneered the design of glass sculpture for the

Royal Leerdam Crystal Royal Leerdam Crystal (also known as Royal Leerdam) was a Dutch producer of glassware products based in Leerdam, the Netherlands. It was established in 1878 as a department within a glassware producing factory, , itself founded in 1765. From 1938 ...

Glass Factory in the Netherlands. When

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

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 w ...

and other Taliesin fellows. Then, 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 the country's popular culture, ...

, 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 (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. The apprentices there were: Bloch, Stephen Pope Dimitroff,

Lou Block Lou may refer to: __NOTOC__ Personal name * Lou (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lou (German singer) * Lou (French singer) * Lou (surname 娄), the 229th most common surname in China * Lou (surname 楼), the 269th most co ...

Arthur Niendorf Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more w ...

Seymour Fogel Seymour Fogel (August 24, 1911 – December 4, 1984) was an American artist whose artistic output included social realist art early in the century, abstract art and expressionist art at mid-century, and transcendental art late in the century ...

Hideo Noda , also known as Hideo Benjamin Noda and Benjamin Hideo Noda, was a Japanese-American modernist painter and muralist, member of the movement in Japan, student of Arnold Blanch, and uncle of Japanese printmaker Tetsuya Noda, as well as alleged co ...

, and

Antonio Sanchez Flores Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular mal ...

With Stephen Pope Dimitroff

On September 5, 1936, Lucienne married Stephen Pope Dimitroff, one of Rivera's chief plasterers. Together they created

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

murals all over the United States. From 1935 to 1939, Bloch was employed by the

WPA WPA may refer to: Computing *Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard *Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing * Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada * Windows Performance An ...

/ FAP (Works Progress Administration/Federal Arts Project). As a

/ 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 16,325 at the 2010 census, making it the largest city in Campb ...

post office. She also worked free-lance as a photographer for ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'' magazine. For ''Life'' she record the desperate conditions of autoworkers during labor strikes and protests that occurred throughout the U.S. during the formation of automobile worker unions. She and Dimitroff created nearly 50 murals across the United States for religious institutions, schools, hospitals, and businesses. Dimitroff died in 1996 on their farm in Gualala, California.

Works

Art

Bloch worked in many types of media: photography, fresco, woodblock cuts, lithographs, mosaics, egg tempera, watercolor, wood and glass sculpture, terra cotta, portraits in ink, gesso, and oil.

Illustrated books

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, raised and educat ...

, (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'' and ''The Runaway Bunny'', both illustrated by Clement Hurd. She has been called "the laureate of the nursery" for ...

and Rockbridge Campbell (1944) * ''Keep Singing, Keep Humming: A Collection of Play and Story Songs'', by Margaret Bradford Boni (1946) * ''Smart Little Boy and His Smart Little Kitty'', by Louise Woodcock'' (1947) * ''Is it Hard? Is it Easy?'' by

Mary McBurney Green Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

(1948) * ''Everybody Eats'', by

(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''The New York Times'' (July 25, 1997). fifty of them illustrated by her husband, Cleme ...

(1961) * ''Starfish'',

(1962)

Private life

Bloch married Dimitroff in 1936 in Flint, Michigan. They had three children; George Ernest Dimitroff, born July 22, 1938, Pencho Bloch Dimitroff, born August 3, 1941, and Sita Dimitroff (Milchev) born December 25, 1943. Dimitroff died in 1996, and was followed by Bloch in 1999; both died on their small farm in Gualala in

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

Legacy

One grandchild, her namesake, Lucienne Allen, maintains her legacy from the family farm, "Old Stage Studios," in Gualala.

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

Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution: Oral History Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloch, Lucienne 1909 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American painters 20th-century American photographers 20th-century American women photographers Swiss emigrants to the United States Swiss Jews American muralists American people of Swiss-Jewish descent American women painters École des Beaux-Arts alumni Federal Art Project artists Jewish American artists Women muralists 20th-century American Jews