Hyman Bloom: American Master Extended through October 26 Closing reception and gallery talk by Henry Adams Professor of Art History at Case Western Reserve and the author of over 400 publications on aspects of American art. Saturday, October 26th, from 3 to 5 pm link to press release Hyman Bloom at the MFA, Boston Hyman Bloom: Matters of Life and Death Through February 23, 2020

Hyman Bloom: American Master Installation View

John Yau writes on Bloom in Hyperallergic "Bloom’s fascination with the transition between life and death is evident in his most notorious subject – depictions of cadavers and limbs in opulent colors. This is where many viewers find Bloom’s work difficult to look at. For one thing, his sensual brushwork and jewel-like colors sets us into an uneasy relationship with his painting, where we are simultaneously fascinated and repelled" - John Yau

Hyman Bloom, Torso and Limbs , 1952, oil on canvas, 34 1/4 x 52 inches

Hyman Bloom, Self-Portrait with Spider , ca. 1965, charcoal on paper, 65 x 30 3/4 inches "Spiritual life cannot be delegated; true spiritual experience can only come from within, and it is only through individual effort to deepen the process that a state of grace can be achieved." - Hyman Bloom

Hyman Bloom, Untitled (Landscape) , ca. 1975, oil on canvas, 72 x 55 inches

Closing reception and gallery talk by Henry Adams Professor of Art History at Case Western Reserve and the author of over 400 publications on aspects of American art. Saturday, October 26th, from 3 to 5 pm

"In the 1950s, Hyman Bloom (1913 – 2009) was described as “the first Abstract Expressionist,” and while few art historians would describe him as such today, the identity of the two figures who used this phrase should prompt us to give this thought some serious regard: Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, perhaps the two most important and influential artists of the Abstract Expressionist movement, who both clearly saw in Bloom’s painting something inspiring, something that prefigured their own artistic achievement. Franz Kline likewise singled out Bloom, along with Thomas Eakins and Albert Pinkham Ryder, as one of the few American artists whose work had a weight and gravitas that he admired. Surely if Pollock, de Kooning, and Kline admired Bloom, we also should take a second look at his work." - Henry Adams

Additional Hyman Bloom Press The Boston Globe: This Boston Artist Shunned the Limelight. He Deserves to be Famous. by Murray Whyte The Washington Post: Artist Hyman Bloom’s Body of Work is Revered. And the Bodies are Cadavers. by Sebastian Smee The New Criterion: Exhibition Note by Franklin Einspruch "When I look at Bloom’s paintings, I don’t see gore, violence, depravity, and darkness, though there have been many who disagree...What I see instead, at his best, is a master painter in supreme balance between intention and emotion, tracking both on the canvas in deliberate, exuberant strokes." - Sebastian Smee

American Art also on view by appointment

Aaron Douglas (American, 1899 - 1979), Study for God's Trombones , 1926, tempera on board, 12 1/2 x 9 3/4 inches

Regular hours are Tuesday - Friday 10 am - 5:30 pm and Saturday 11 am - 5 pm.  Alexandre Gallery | 212-755-2828 | www.alexandregallery.com