Lot 852: Martin Bloch 1883-1954- Woman seated in an

Martin Bloch 1883-1954- Woman seated in an interior; oil on canvas, signed and dated 20, 70x90cm. Note: Bloch was born in November 1883 in Neisse, Silesia/Poland (then Germany). His father owned a lace & linen factory. From 1902 to 1905 he studied architecture and art at the University of Berlin; in 1905 he studied aesthetics in Munich, returning to Berlin in 1907 to attend drawing classes with Lois Corinth. During WW1 he lived in Spain. In 1923 he opened the Bloch-Kerschbaumer School of Painting in Berlin, which became very popular with students from all over Europe. When Kerschbaumer died in 1926, Karl Schmidt-Rottluf took his place. In 1933 he had a disagreement with the Nazi administration over an exhibition and promptly was declared a painter of "Degenerate Art". A year later he was forced to leave Germany and emigrated with his wife and daughter to Britain. In 1947 he became a British citizen. His contact with Wales came about through Josef Herman. Bloch paints painted in Bethesda, North Wales in the 1940s and 1950s. His influences were Max Liebermann and Lovis Corinth. An exhibition catalogue of paintings and drawings is available with this lot ; see dept. (unframed)