Artist: Julius Bloch Period: Social realist painter Title: Steel Construction Worker Measurements: “24x20” Priced at: $5,500 FOR SALE NOW! For many years, he was a teacher at the Pennsylvania Academy, and his message to students was that you need to know life in order to paint life. He began his career by painting floral still-lives, but seeing Depression-era social conditions changed his focus to express his sympathy for persons who were "down and out." One of the first American artists to paint poverty-stricken black Americans, he tried to make sure that his subjects retained their dignity. In doing this, he painted many of the poor blacks with the formality of high-dollar, commissioned portraits. Not everyone was accepting of this presentation. In 1934, he was asked to submit a painting to a Center City department store for National Art Week. His entry was a portrait of Alonzo Jennings, a black man. "Store officials said it was one of the finest paintings they had seen in years, but that the store 'could not exhibit a portrait of a Negro in its windows.! They asked Bloch if he had any pictures of whites. He said he did, but they were not available." (Freeman) Like so many of his peers, Block became involved in left-wing politics, and this, combined with his own lack of money, inspired much of his interest in poor people. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics. In 1934, Eleanor Roosevelt purchased his oil painting The Young Worker in an exhibition of the Public Works of Art Project at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., for President Franklin D. Roosevelt's executive offices. He left his artwork to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In 1966, he died of a massive hemorrhage. He left his artwork to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. #JuliusBloch #Art #Artist #Painting #History #Expressionism #Abstract #ArtOfTheDay #InteriorDesignIdeas #ArtCollector #Designer #FineArt #DesignInspiration #WallDecor #ArtForSale #ArtForHome #Artwork #ArtistOnInstagram #BlackArt #BuyArt #Investment #Pleasure #Leisure #Original #BuyBlack https://www.instagram.com/p/CV_uViQs0HL/?utm_medium=tumblr