The Green Domino
Framed: 61 3/4 × 43 1/2 × 2 inches (156.85 × 110.49 × 5.08 cm)
- 217
A. Bloch—München, Der Neue Kunstsalon, Munich, Germany, May 1913, no. 36.
Exhibition of Modern Paintings by Albert Bloch of Munich, Art Institute of Chicago, July–September 1915 (traveled), no. 20.
Expressionisten, Futuristen, Kubisten—Gemälde und Zeichnungen, Der Sturm, Berlin, Germany, July 1916, no. 23.
German Expressionist Paintings, Drawings, Watercolors, Sculpture, Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York, November 1972–February 1973, no. 6.
Albert Bloch (1882–1961): An American Expressionist—Paintings, Drawings, Prints, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York, February 3–March 3, 1974, no. 4.
Der Blaue Reiter und sein Kreis, Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York, March 18–May 1977, no. 1.
Art in a Turbulent Era: German and Austrian Expressionism, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, March 10–April 30, 1978.
Kandinsky in Munich: 1896–1914, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, January 22–March 21, 1982; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, April 22–June 20, 1982; Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, August 17–October 17, 1982, no. 97.
Bohemian Night Life: 1910–1935, Barbara Mathes Gallery, New York, April 22–June 1, 1989, no cat.
Albert Bloch: The American Blue Rider, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Mo., January 26–March 16, 1997; Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, April 16–June 29, 1997; Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, October 3–December 7, 1997.
World War I and the Rise of Modernism, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Mo., January 9, 2015–October 18, 2015, no cat.
The Green Domino, painted in Munich, reveals Bloch's passion for the expressive powers of simplified forms and intense color. The curious figures who occupy this brightly colored, prismatically fractured space are based on characters from 16th- and 17th-century Italian improvisational comedic theatre. The vivid central figure, after which the painting is titled, also had contemporary connections. It pays tribute to a renowned singer who performed at a popular cabaret, and may also honor a Russian dancer who, like Bloch, was a member of the Blue Rider circle.
Purchased from the artist by Arthur Jerome Eddy (1859-1920), Chicago, IL, 1913-1920;
By descent to his son, Jerome O. Eddy (1891-1951), Skull Valley, AZ, 1920-1937;
Probably his sale, The Late Arthur J. Eddy, Extraordinary Collection of One Hundred and Ten Modernistic Paintings and Antique Oriental Rugs, Williams, Barker & Severn Co., Chicago, IL, January 20, 1937, lot 156, as Green Figure [1],
Private collection, London [2];
With Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York, by November 1972, as Das Grüne Gewand;
Probably purchased from Leonard Hutton Galleries by Mr. and Mrs. David Lee Sherman, Phoenix, 1973-at least 1982 [3];
With Barbara Mathes Gallery, New York, ca. 1989, as Das Grüne Gewand;
Purchased from the Barbara Mathes Gallery by Elliot (1915-2009) and Harriet (1919-2004) Goldstein, Atlanta, GA, ca. 1989-2009;
Elliott Goldstein’s bequest to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2010.
NOTES:
[1] It is not definitive that the Green Figure offered in Eddy’s sale is the same painting as The Green Domino, but it is likely.
[2] According to documentation provided by Barbara Mathes Gallery at the time of the painting’s purchase, see Nelson-Atkins curatorial files.
[3] According to the exhibition catalogue, the painting was for sale when it was exhibited at German Expressionist Paintings, Drawings, Watercolors, Sculpture, Leonard Hutton Galleries, November 1972-February 1973. The Shermans placed it on long-term loan with the Everson Museum of Art at Syracuse University the same year, so it is likely they purchased it from Leonard Hutton Galleries. It remained on loan to the Everson until at least 1982, when it was lent to the exhibition Kandinsky in Munich, 1896-1914 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Lenbachhaus, Munich.
Exhibition of Modern Paintings by Albert Bloch of Munich, exh. cat. (Chicago: Chicago Art Institute, 1915), 8, 15.
Exhibition of Modern Paintings by Albert Bloch of Munich, exh. cat. (St. Louis: City Museum of St. Louis, 1915), 6, 11.
German Expressionist Paintings, Drawings, Watercolors, Sculpture, exh. cat. (New York: Leonard Hutton Galleries, 1972), 19, 40, (repro.).
Der Blaue Reiter und sein Kreis, exh. cat. (New York: Leonard Hutton Galleries, 1977), 28. Pl. 1.
Albert Bloch (1882–1961): An American Expressionist—Paintings, Drawings, Prints, exh. cat. (Utica, NY: Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, 1974), 8.
Kandinsky in Munich: 1896–1914, exh. cat. (New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1982), 148, pl. 97.
Henry Adams, Margaret C. Conrads, and Annegret Hoberg, Albert Bloch: The American Blue Rider, exh. cat. (Munich, Germany: Prestel, 1997), cover, 30, 34, 64, 210, pl. 20.
Charles Cowdrick, “The Reluctant Modernist,” Pitch Weeky (Kansas City, Mo.), February 6, 1997, 47.
