John Bloom: Close to Home

JOHN BLOOM: CLOSE TO HOME

FIGGE ART MUSEUM

August 25, 2018–January 13, 2019

Published in conjunction with the exhibition John Bloom: Close to Home at the Figge Art Museum, August 25, 2018-January 13, 2019

Cover image: Summer Evening, 1936, oil on Masonite, Private collection Title page: John Bloom, circa 1940, Courtesy of the Mississippi Fine Arts Gallery

August 25, 2018–January 13, 2019

EXHIBITION SPONSORS

Sue Quail The Reeg Group at R W Baird

Published with funds from the William D. and Shirley J. Homrighausen Endowment for Publications

FIGGE ART MUSEUM | DAVENPORT, IOWA

In 1950, John Vincent Bloom (1906-2002) completed County Fair (page 2). Inspired by the fair held in DeWitt, Iowa, the painting includes a crowd watching a horse race with farm fields and a train in the background. An onlooker blocks a young boy’s view, while in the distance a mother struggles to drag her child to the outhouse. The local subject matter, stylized figures, vibrant color palette, and humorous vignettes all distinguish the painting as a work by John Bloom. Understandably, his artwork has become a source of pride and nostalgia for area residents. Many distinctive qualities of Bloom’s artwork can be traced back to his boyhood, while his training at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, his time with Grant Wood Study for County Fair, 1930s and work as an industrial designer offer insight into his motivations and his progression as an artist. Bank.2 Bloom spent his days swimming at Crystal Lake, In many ways, DeWitt is the archetypal small hiking and fishing with his father and brothers and, Midwestern community. Located a little more than 20 much to his dismay, attending St. Joseph’s Catholic miles north of Davenport, the town is surrounded by School.3 His experiences as a boy inspired many of rich Iowa farmland. When Bloom was born in 1906 his works, including After Church (page 4) in which DeWitt had about 1500 residents.1 He was part of a a young John Bloom, dressed in green, attempts prominent family; his father, John Vincent Bloom Sr., to escape a brood of gossips blocking the arched was a banker and later the president of DeWitt Savings doorway of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.4

Bloom’s boyhood drawings convey his sense of subject. As a teenager, he cut animals out of wood humor and reflect his burgeoning artistic talent. with his scroll saw and he later produced stylized Repurposed memo pads and bank ledgers are filled woodcarvings of cats, cows and other animals.7 with characters from the Sunday funnies, cartoons Beginning as a young man, Bloom kept a diary of his making fun of schoolmasters and numerous animal daily activities. As an adult he continued to record drawings.5 Drawn when Bloom was just 14, Rabbit his days and would constantly sketch things he saw in Cornfield exhibits a decorative quality in its corn around town.8 He was fascinated with observing as stalks and in the line work of the rabbit (above). He well as recording, and he used these sketches years, entered similar drawings in the county fair where and sometimes decades, later as inspiration for his they won numerous awards.6 Animals were a favorite best-known compositions.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL In 1924, Bloom moved to Davenport to attend St. Ambrose College (now University). While at St. Ambrose, he also took art classes at the Tri-City Art League and at the Davenport Municipal Art Gallery (the predecessor to the Figge Art Museum). From 1926 to 1930, Bloom attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he trained in drawing, composition, anatomy and color theory. While in Chicago, he had the opportunity to see work by Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse at art galleries like Chester Johnson on Michigan Avenue and at the Art Institute.9 Painted in 1937, Bloom’s Picking Weeds (page 14) demonstrates the impact of such artists on his style. The reduction of forms, segments of color and visible brush strokes, attest to Cézanne’s influence on Bloom. The painting’s focus on a farmer at work affirms the later influence of Regionalism.10 Bloom refined his observational drawing skills at the Art Institute.11 Examples of his line drawings from this period have an elegant and lyrical sensibility. In a nude from 1928, Bloom captured the essentials of a woman’s form in a mere five minutes (page 7).

Toiling, 1935

These drawings represent his interest in the human painting. Toiling (page 6) is a more finished and stylized figure and his skill at rapid sketching. As Bloom carving which references relief sculpture and the labor wrote, “Quick sketches are the ideal way to get the themes prevalent in New Deal art. After concluding his essential gesture for [sic] haven’t time to get involved studies at the Art Institute, Bloom returned to DeWitt in details.”12 Around this time he also created several where from 1930 to 1932 he listed his activities as small figural woodcarvings. The figures are rough and paintings and drawing “freelance.” He spent the summer blocky, but they reflect Bloom’s desire to represent of 1932 at Stone City.13 the human form in sculpture as well as in drawing and

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL The Stone City Art Colony and School, 1932 John Bloom: back row, second from right; Isabel Scherer: middle row, second from right

Stone City Art Colony was founded in 1932 by Grant work, attended classes, socialized in Stone City, Iowa, Wood (1891-1942), Edward Rowan (1898-1946) and swam in the Wapsipinicon River.14 Wood invited and Adrian Dornbush (1900-1970) as a place where Bloom, who he had met at an art competition, to attend artists could work cooperatively and advance the values the Colony. But with no money and having exhausted of Regionalism. As an art movement, Regionalism loans from his father to attend the Art Institute, Bloom was focused on local, rural and often agrarian subject couldn’t afford it. As a compromise, he worked as a matter represented in a realistic way, in opposition to groundskeeper in exchange for free tuition.15 Bloom met the urban and Modernist styles of artists in New York his future wife and fellow artist, Isabel Scherer (later and elsewhere. During its brief period of existence, the Isabel Bloom) at the Colony.16 This period marked a Colony was an active and exciting place. The students moment of resolve in Bloom’s work, wherein he began sketched, painted, sculpted, critiqued each other’s to concentrate on local and rural subject matter.

While the Stone City Art Colony only lasted two of high unemployment. New Deal programs were summers, for many it offered a respite from the established to provide jobs and to stabilize the realities of the Great Depression. As Florence economy. The P.W.A.P. (Public Works of Art Project, Sprague (1888-1971), a sculpture instructor at 1933-1934) and later the F.A.P. (Federal Art Project, the Colony wrote, “So art in Iowa went on in spite 1935-1943) provided paid work for artists, resulting of the Depression. The Colony forgot that there in the creation of many public works of art. Bloom was such a thing.”17 Yet, the struggle to find work worked on the Iowa State University Library Murals was a real and constant concern during this period under Grant Wood and was independently awarded

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL commissions for murals at the Tipton and DeWitt Swedish artist Anders Zorn (1860-1920), the palette post offices. Stylistic and technical elements present uses a limited amount of base colors mixed in varying in many of his paintings are attributable to this period. amounts to create cohesive tones and hues. The colors Bloom’s easel paintings and murals have a flat surface are earthier versions of straight primaries and include quality without the glossy finish usually associated with extra pale cadmium red, ivory black, zinc white, mellow oil paint. In Bloom’s notes referencing his time working ochre and sometimes viridian green, and cerulean blue. with Wood, there is a recipe for a flattening preparation These colors, along with the flat finish, can be seen in and a description of Zorn’s Palette.18 Named after the many of Bloom’s paintings.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL popular Art Deco style is clear in the rounded forms and repetitive design. His rendering communicates the mass and contour of the object cleanly and effectively. For decades Bloom continued to make his own art in his free-time, until his retirement allowed him more freedom.22 A sketchbook from the 1940s in which mechanical drawings intermingle with sketches of people around Davenport demonstrates the two sides of Bloom’s artistic life.23 During this period he recorded many scenes along the Davenport riverfront. After years of relative obscurity, Bloom’s work was championed in the 1980s by David Losasso (1948-2015), a local art enthusiast and owner of the Mississippi Fine Arts Gallery located in the Village of East Davenport. Their association resulted Design for Kitchen Drawer, 1946 in a proliferation of prints, numerous exhibitions and several corporate mural commissions. After settling in Davenport, Bloom was able to patch Bloom’s artwork shows the influence of his time. His together work through mural commissions and boyhood in DeWitt laid the foundation for his appreciation freelance jobs, but soon after marrying he had to find of his surroundings, the development of his sense of a steady source of income. As he stated, “I didn’t give humor and his interest in observation. His vignettes of art up, but I got married…it’s a whole new ball game. life in DeWitt and Davenport represent a way of life You have to get oriented more toward the financial.”19 that resonates for area residents and can still be seen Bloom worked as an industrial and commercial designer in LeClaire Park or at church on Sunday. Throughout with H. Wood Miller in Davenport, and later as an his career, Bloom’s work is defined by an affectionate illustrator of munition repair manuals at the Rock study of the everyday. He appreciated life in the towns Island Arsenal.20 Though he considered this a job rather and countryside close to his home and celebrated the than a serious artistic pursuit, he produced elegant common occurrences that others often miss. designs which reveal his skill as a draftsman.21 In his design for kitchen cabinetry (above), the effect of the —Vanessa Sage, Figge Art Museum Assistant Curator

1 Patrick B. Wolfe, Wolfe’s History of Clinton County, Iowa, 11 Correspondence from The School of the Art Institute Volume 1 (Indianapolis, Indiana: B.F. Bowen and Company, regarding several line drawings, August 11, 1928; June 28, 1911), 313. 1928, Bloom Papers. 2 John Vincent Bloom Sr. Obituary, 1942, John Bloom 12 Notes, 7/7/1985, Bloom Papers. Papers, Iowa State University Special Collections, Ames, Iowa 13 Guggenheim Fellowship Application Drafts, 1944-1946, (Afterwards cited as Bloom Papers). Bloom Papers. 3 As expressed by Bloom, “I hate school; school is nuts.” 14 Stone City Brochure, 1932, Bloom Papers Diary, 1932, Day Book, 1918, Mississippi Fine Arts Gallery. Bloom Papers. 4 Shirley Jackson, “Grant Wood liked local artist’s style,” 15 Shirley Davis, “Prolific Painter,”Quad-City Times, Quad-City Times, Nov. 19, 1984. Feb. 22, 1987. 5 Sketchbooks, 1918-1920, Bloom Papers. Day Book, 16 Isabel later founded a successful cement sculpture 1918, Mississippi Fine Arts Gallery. company located in Davenport, Iowa (now Isabel Bloom Ltd.) 6 Bison/Lion/Eagle with award designations, Mississippi 17 Florence Sprague, “More About the Stone City Art Fine Arts Gallery. Colony,” The Palette, Iowa State College (now University of 7 “With my scroll saw I cut out a turkey a ram’s head…” Iowa), 1932, Scrapbook 3, Grant Wood Archives. Diary, Jan. 2, 1920, Bloom Papers. 18 Misc. Papers Titled “Grant Wood’s Oil Painting Panel,” 8 Diaries, 1918-1992, Bloom Papers. “I’m a people n.d., Bloom Papers. Zorn’s Palette was used by Grant Wood on watcher… I’m always looking for good–i.e. expressive poses.” the Iowa State University Library Murals, referenced in Living Notes, 7/7/1985, Bloom Papers. Regionalism (Davenport Museum of Art, 1988), 2. 9 “After school went down to Johnson Galleries.” 19 Mike Romkey, “Grant Wood Colleague has Show in Diary, May 7, 1929, Bloom Papers. Exhibition History Davenport,” The Sunday Dispatch, Nov. 18, 1984. Art Institute of Chicago, http://www.artic.edu/research/ 20 Notes 7/7/1985, Bloom Papers. exhibition-history. 21 Romkey. 10 “…the artist feels he was more influenced by … Paul Cézanne,” Mary Rueter, “Murals’ history related,” DeWitt 22 Romkey. Observer, April 28, 1982. 23 Sketchbook, 1940s, Bloom Papers.

Paintings Scrubwoman, 1986 Study for Monkey Island, 1987 1 Oil on Masonite, 25 x 18 ¼ in. Color pencil on paper, 3 ¼ x 4 8 in. After Church, 1934 Gift in Honor of Dr. and Mrs. Charles M. City of Davenport Art Collection 3 Oil on Masonite, 29 8 x 24 in. Diez by the Diez/White Families, 2017.23 Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Philip D. Adler, City of Davenport Art Collection 1988.16 Gift of James and Deba Leach in Side Show, 1950 3 3 honor of Lois Hill Leach, 2001.6 Oil on canvas, 19 8 x 15 8 in. Study for Auction at Johnson’s City of Davenport Art Collection (figure studies), 1930s Auction at Johnson’s, 1950 Gift of the Beaux Arts Fund Committee, Pencil on paper, 3 ½ x 6 ½ in. Oil on Masonite, 18 ½ x 24 ½ in. Inc., 1989.16 Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.56 City of Davenport Art Collection Museum purchase: Friends of Summer Evening, 1936 Study for Auction at Johnson’s (people Art Acquisition Fund, 1986.13 Oil on Masonite, 22 ½ x 35 ½ in. on bench), 1930s Private collection Pencil on paper, 3 ½ x 6 ½ in. County Fair, 1934 Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.57 Oil on Masonite, 24 ½ x 35 ¾ in. City of Davenport Art Collection Murals Study for County Fair (harness racing), Gift of Mrs. Philip D. Adler, 1988.14 1930s Cattle Loading, 1988 Pencil on paper, 8 ¼ x 10 ¾ in. Feeding Hogs, 1929 Oil on Masonite, 48 x 144 in. Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.49 Oil on canvas, 17 ½ x 23 ½ in. City of Davenport Art Collection Private collection Gift of Norwest Bank, 1998.2 Study for County Fair (views of racetrack), 1930s Four Seasons, 1941 Shocking Oats, 1987 Pencil on paper, 10 ¾ x 8 ¼ in. Oil on panel, 15 ½ x 36 in. Oil on Masonite, 48 x 144 in. Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.53 Reverse: Florida Beach Scene, 1947 City of Davenport Art Collection Oil on panel, 20 x 40 in. Gift of Thomas Kahl Figge, 1993.6 Study for DeWitt Post Office Mural Private collection Shucking Corn (reverse: Field Goal), 1935 Monkey Island, 1987 Drawings/Studies Oil on Masonite, 8 ½ x 20 ½ in. Oil on Masonite, 26 ½ x 35 ½ in. Private Collection City of Davenport Art Collection Lofting Hay, 1939 Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Philip D. Adler, Pencil on paper, 11 x 11 in. Study for DeWitt Post Office Mural 1988.15 Private collection Shucking Corn (Horse team and barn), 1937 Peeling Potatoes (portrait of the Near Stone City, 1932 7 1 Pencil and color pencil on paper, Pencil on paper, 9 8 x 13 8 in. artist’s grandmother), 1939 11 ½ x 17 in. City of Davenport Art Collection Oil on Masonite, 35 ½ x 23 ½ in. Private collection Private collection Gift from Anonymous Donor, 1988.19 Study for Shocking Oats, mid-late Self Portrait (reading in bed), 1927-1930 Picking Weeds, 1937 twentieth century 7 Black crayon on paper, 10 x 7 in. Oil on canvas, 20 x 23 8 in. Oil on Masonite, 9 x 26 ¾ in. Museum purchase: Friends of Art Museum purchase: Friends of Private collection Art Acquisition Fund, 2016.4.1 Acquisition Fund, 2016.4.3

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL Study for Shocking Oats, 1940 Boyhood Drawings Watching the Ferry, 1947 13 7 Watercolor and pencil on paper, 4 x 12 in. Lithograph on paper, 8 16 x 5 8 in. Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.23 Bison, 1919 City of Davenport Art Collection Pencil on paper, 9 x 12 in. Gift of James and Deba Leach in honor of Study for Shocking Oats (men carrying Courtesy of the Mississippi Fine Arts Gallery Lois Leach Hill, 2001.10 bales), 1940 13 Pencil on paper, 8 ½ x 11 16 in. Eagle, 1918 Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.32 Pencil on paper, 9 x 12 in. Industrial Design Courtesy of the Mississippi Fine Arts Gallery Study for Shocking Oats (compositional Design for Furnace, circa 1940 layouts), 1940 Rabbit in Cornfield, 1920 Pencil on tracing paper, 13 ¾ x 12 ¼ in. 11 5 Pencil on paper, 8 ½ x 11 in. Ink and pencil on paper, 6 16 x 8 8 in. Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.19 Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.42 Museum purchase: Friends of Art Acquisition Fund, 2016.4.4 Design for Furnace, circa 1940 Study for Tipton Post Office Mural Pencil and color pencil on brown paper, Cattle, 1937 13 ¾ x 15 in. Oil on Masonite, 7 ¾ x 18 ¾ in. Lithographs Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.20 Private collection Checkers, 1984 Design for Furnace, circa 1940 Study for Tipton Post Office Mural Lithograph on paper, 7 x 10 in. Pencil and color pencil on green paper, Cattle, circa 1937 City of Davenport Art Collection 13 ½ x 14 ½ in. Pencil on brown paper, 10 x 12 ½ in. Gift of the artist, 1986.7 Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.21 Private collection County Fair, 1984 Design for Joyce Jack, 1940 Study for Pigeon Fancier, circa 1940 Lithograph on paper, 10 x 13 ¾ in. H. Wood Miller Company 1 5 7 Charcoal on paper, 6 8 x 7 8 in. Gift of the artist Ink on cardboard, 14 8 x 9 ¼ in. Museum purchase: Friends of Art City of Davenport Art Collection, 1986.6 Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.17 Acquisition Fund, 2016.4.5 Ferry at the Dock, 1946 Design for Kitchen Drawer (Home-O- Untitled (portraits of the artist’s mother), Lithograph on paper, 9 ¾ x 13 ½ in. Nize, now HON Company), 1946 1928 City of Davenport Art Collection Ink and gouache on ivory paper, Pencil on paper, 11 x 8 ½ in.; 12 x 9 in. Gift of the Davenport Branch of 11 x 11 ¼ in. Courtesy of the Mississippi Fine Arts Gallery American Association of University Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.12 Women, OP 12 Untitled (nude on side), 1928 Design for Pull-Out Kitchen Cabinet Pencil on paper, 6 ¾ x 12 in. Mother and Child (Isabel and baby), (Home-O-Nize, now HON Company), Courtesy of the Mississippi Fine Arts Gallery 1947 1946 Lithograph on paper, 16 x 10 in. Ink and gouache on ivory paper, Untitled (seated nude), 1928 5 1 Courtesy of the Mississippi Fine 13 8 x 11 8 in. Pencil on paper, 9 x 12 in. Arts Gallery Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.13 Courtesy of the Mississippi Fine Arts Gallery Natatorium, 1994 Design for Microflex Measuring Untitled (woman pulling on skirt), 1939 Lithograph on paper, 14 ¼ x 10 ½ in. Device (Eagle Signal Corporation), Pencil on paper, 18 x 9 ¼ in. Gift of Dean Christensen, 2015.7.3 mid-twentieth century Courtesy of the Mississippi Fine Arts Gallery Pigeon Fancier, 1946 Pencil and color pencil on black paper, 11 7 3 13 14 16 x 10 8 in. Untitled (woman with garment), 1939 Lithograph on paper, 7 16 x 9 16 in. Pencil on paper, 18 x 10 ½ in. City of Davenport Art Collection Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.9 Courtesy of the Mississippi Fine Arts Gallery Gift of James and Deba Leach in honor of Lois Hill Leach, 2001.8

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL Design for Microflex Measuring Untitled (angular figure), 1930 Woman Washing Hair, 1973 3 5 3 Device (Eagle Signal Corporation), Wood, 4 8 x 2 8 x 2 8 in. Carved and painted wood, mid-twentieth century Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.4 27 ½ x 11 ½ x 10 in. 5 Pencil on paper, 10 ½ x 9 8 in. Museum purchase: Friends of Art Untitled (reclining man and woman), Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.10 Acquisition Fund, 2016.4.2 1929 3 Wood, 4 8 x 6 ½ x 2 in. Wrestlers, circa 1938 Woodcarvings Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.6 Wood, 7 ¼ x 22 x 11 ½ in. Private collection Cat with Ball, 1941 Untitled (seated man), 1928 Wood, 12 x 14 ¾ x 3 in. Wood, 5 x 2 ¾ x 2 ¼ in. Private collection Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.5 Ephemera Snake Charmer, 1940 Untitled (seated woman, head down), John W. Barry, Jr. Carved and painted wood, 1929 American, 1905-1988 3 3 5 3 14 ¼ x 6 8 x 5 8 in. Wood, 4 ½ x 2 8 x 2 8 in. The Stone City Art Colony and School, Private collection Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.3 1932 Toiling, 1935 Untitled (seated woman, facing left), Photograph 5 Grant Wood Archives Wood, 16 ½ x 7 ½ x 2 8 in. 1929 City of Davenport Art Collection Wood, 5 ½ x 3 ½ x 3 in. Day Book, 1918 Museum purchase: Friends of Art Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.2 Facsimile Acquisition Fund, 1988.13 Untitled (seated woman, facing right), 1929 5 Wood, 4 8 x 3 x 2 ½ in. Gift of Tom Bloom, 2005.1

John Bloom (1906-2002) was a native of DeWitt, Iowa, and a beloved local artist. He attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and later worked with Grant Wood. Bloom is known for his murals, easel paintings, lithographs, and woodcarvings.

Self Portrait (reading in bed), 1927-1930 17

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL 225 West Second Street JOHN BLOOM: Davenport, Iowa 52801 563.326.7804 www.figgeartmuseum.org CLOSE TO HOME

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