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Mr. Nobody, Shanghai
Bloch, David Ludwig1947
Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History
New York, United States
Bloch is sitting on a steamer trunk in a state of utter dejection. His shoes are giving way; his head and hands are bent over his walking stick. An inscription on his trunk reads D.P. Nobody, Anywhere. His disheveled bag holds the tools of his trade. Rickshaw, steamer boat, and the profile of the buildings of Shanghai complete the picture. Title, date, and signature at bottom.
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Details
- Title: Mr. Nobody, Shanghai
- Creator: Bloch, David Ludwig
- Creator Lifespan: 1910/2002
- Date Created: 1947
- Subject: Self-portraits
- Repository: Leo Baeck Institute at the Center for Jewish History
- Physical Dimensions: w17.3 x h21.8 cm
- Artist Biography: Born in 1910 in Floss, Bavaria, David Ludwig Bloch lost his hearing as a child. He began to study porcelain painting in 1925, and was employed at this until 1934. He then began studies at the state school for applied painting in Munich. By this time the artist had already taken part in exhibitions of the "Jewish Culture Federation of Bavaria". Bloch became a commercial artist and decorator with the department store Sallinger in Straubing, but subsequently was fired for being Jewish. He was excluded from studies in Munich for the same reason. During Kristallnacht, Bloch was arrested and imprisoned in Dachau for four weeks, after which he found work with the master painter Heinz Voges in Munich. In 1940, the artist emigrated to Shanghai, where he got married to Lilly Cheng Disiu, who was also deaf. Bloch moved to New York in 1949, and worked there for 26 years as a graphic artist. After a visit to Germany in 1976, the Holocaust became an intense focus of his art. A book published in 1997, titled "David Ludwig Bloch: Woodcuts. Shanghai 1940-1949," presents BlochÂs collected woodcuts created in the years of his exile in Shanghai. In 2000, he had a one-man retrospective at the Jewish Museum in Munich, Germany.
- Type: Woodcut
- Rights: This material may be used for personal, research, and educational purposes only. Any other use without prior authorization is prohibited. Please contact LBI librarians at lbaeck@lbi.cjh.org for further information.
- External Link: LBI Art Collection, Center for Jewish History
- Medium: Ink on paper
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