Josef Block

Willem Kalf, Stillleben mit Porzellankanne (Still Life with a Porcelain Jug) (1653). Bathed in a mysterious glow, an exquisite porcelain jug and a glass goblet with wine glinting inside appear against the semi-darkness of a window alcove. In the foreground are a half-peeled lemon, an open pomegranate, and some velvety peaches. The Dutch baroque painter Willem Kalf masterfully demonstrates how the surfaces reflect the light in different ways. This still life can be admired at the Alte Pinakothek museum in Munich. The panoramic painting Jerusalem am Tag der Kreuzigung Christi. Bruno Piglhein and fellow painters; the person on the far right is possibly Josef Block. Carl Teufel (photographer), Josef Block in seinem Atelier (Josef Block in his Studio), around 1889. It was in this studio that on 4 April 1892 Block and 95 fellow artists found the „Verein bildender Künstler Münchens e.V.” (Munich Association of Visual Artists), which later becomes famous as the „Secession”. This group considers itself the antithesis of the established art scene in Munich, which is dominated by the portraitist Franz von Lenbach. The co-founders of the Secession are Block’s professor Bruno Piglhein and the “prince of painting” Franz von Stuck. Author Margarete Mauthner recalls the foundation of the movement: „Secession? – The word meant nothing to me; it was an alien concept. But when I heard the names of those behind the movement, it all became clear: light, freedom, purity in art, even when it did not follow an entirely new direction, death to the studio tone, kitsch, and falsity…” Franz von Stuck, poster for the 7th International Art Exhibition of the Munich Secession (1897). Block is an active contributor to the exhibitions of the Munich Secession. His paintings are exhibited in Germany and abroad. Critics praise: „Block’s paintings reveal multiple, subtle narratives, in muted colors, in the modern style characterized by broken sentences and dashes.” He marries Else Oppenheim, the daughter of the banker Hugo Otto Oppenheim and his wife Margarete, née Mendelssohn. The couple soon adds to their family with the birth of Anna Luise, Hugo, and Otto. They are soon to be deprived of their family happiness, as Else suffers from severe depression and has to be admitted to an institution around 1903. Josef Block becomes firmly established in the art world of Berlin, as he had been in Munich. He is friends with Max Slevogt, Emil Orlik, and Max Liebermann and becomes a sought-after portrait artist in high society. Prominent art dealers such as Fritz Gurlitt and Paul Cassirer sell his works and he often takes part in the Biennale in Venice and Secession exhibitions. In 1904 the women’s illustrated magazine "Berliner Leben – Zeitschrift für Schönheit und Kunst" (Berlin Life – Magazine for Beauty and Art) writes: “The artist is at the center of his works; he has a calm and self-assured gaze. A renowned painter who has a very good name in the art world. Here you can see Die Versuchung des heiligen Antonius (The Temptation of Saint Antony), underneath it Spanierin (Spanish Woman), above this to the right another picture of a Spanish woman, and below that Dame im Grünen (Woman in the Greenery); in addition, the Grablegung Christi (Burial of Christ) and Chansonette (Little Song).” Block has a longstanding friendship with the writer Gerhart Hauptmann, whom he has known since his time in Breslau. Block often visits Hauptmann on the Baltic Sea island of Hiddensee and in the Giant Mountains. He produces a series of portraits of Hauptmann during this period. Max Liebermann, Bildnis Dr. Wilhelm Bode (Portrait of Dr. Wilhelm Bode) (1904). Around 1906 Block inherits a collection of Old Masters paintings from his uncle, the Berlin lawyer Berthold Richter. The paintings are so famous and so valuable that in 1919 leading representatives of the museums in Berlin such as Wilhelm von Bode want to include them in an inventory of national treasures. „Mr Block’s apartment