Ex-collection Otto Gerson, New York; Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, New York; Marlborough Gallery, New York; private collection, New York.
Bloc (1896-1966) was born in Algeria and moved to France in 1898, where he later studied engineering and architecture, coming under the influence of Le Corbusier (1887-1965) in the early 1920s. He worked in art publishing during the 1920s and 1930s, founding several important journals, including L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui, before turning to sculpture in the 1940s. He created his first large sculptures in Paris between 1949 and 1956. In 1951, in company with several other artists, Bloc formed the group Espace, the goal of which was to bring the ideals of constructivism and neo-plasticism to urbanism and design. Artists and urbanists such as Jean Dewasne, Etienne Bóthy, Jean Gorin, Félix Del Marle, Edgard Pillet, Victor Vasarely and Sonia Delaunay were also members of the group. Bloc focused primarily on sculpture and design during the 1950s up until his death in 1966. In 1959 he participated at "II. documenta" in Kassel, Germany, the second edition of the ground-breaking international quinquennial contemporary art exhibition.
