Highway
- Date
- 1920
- Material
- Oil on panel
- made in
- Ascona, Ticino canton, Switzerland, Europe
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- American Art
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 12 x 15 9/16 in. (30.5 x 39.5 cm)
framed: 16 1/2 x 20 in. (41.9 x 50.8 cm) - Credit Line
- Bequest of Morton D. May
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 872:1983
NOTES
Wanderers move along a path lined with stripped and broken trees. Absorbed in their own thoughts, they evoke feelings of isolation and an uneasy disquiet. St. Louisan Albert Bloch worked in Germany with a group known as Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). These artists used abstraction and saturated colors to express what they believed to be spiritual truths. Highway depicts the homeless people Bloch encountered in post-World War I Germany. In his art, hooded figures represent grief and suffering.
Provenance
1920 - 1921
Albert Bloch (1882–1961), Ascona, Switzerland; St. Louis, MO [1]
1961 - 1975
Anna Francis (Mrs. Albert) Bloch (1913–2014), Lawrence, KS, by inheritance [2]
1975 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914 - 1983), St. Louis, MO, purchased from Anna Francis Bloch [3]
1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, Bequest of Morton D. May [4]
[1] Bloch painted Highway in Ascona, Switzerland, in the summer or fall of 1920. In April 1921, he returned to the United States with his paintings; by July 1921 he settled in St. Louis. Highway remained in his possession until at least October 1921, when it was shipped to the Daniel Gallery, New York, NY, for an exhibition of Bloch’s work. [“Exhibition of Paintings by Albert Bloch,” November 15–28, 1921, Daniel Gallery, New York, NY, cat. no. 32].
[2] In 1961, Highway was included in a retrospective exhibition of his work [“Albert Bloch,” Philbrook Museum of Art, March 7–31, 1961, cat. no. 7]. It was then the property of Bloch’s estate. Morton D. May corresponded with Anna Francis Bloch on April 2, 1974, about purchasing Highway, which was in Bloch’s estate at that time, and Mrs. Bloch shipped it to May from Lawrence, KS, for his approval by April 29, 1974 [SLAM document files]. Given the trajectories of other paintings in his estate, it seems likely that Highway remained with the Blochs from 1921 until 1961.
[3] Invoice dated May 6, 1974 [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum].
[4] Last Will and Testament of M. D. May dated June 11, 1982 [copy, May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum]. Minutes of the Acquisitions and Loans Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, September 20, 1983.
Albert Bloch (1882–1961), Ascona, Switzerland; St. Louis, MO [1]
1961 - 1975
Anna Francis (Mrs. Albert) Bloch (1913–2014), Lawrence, KS, by inheritance [2]
1975 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914 - 1983), St. Louis, MO, purchased from Anna Francis Bloch [3]
1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, Bequest of Morton D. May [4]
[1] Bloch painted Highway in Ascona, Switzerland, in the summer or fall of 1920. In April 1921, he returned to the United States with his paintings; by July 1921 he settled in St. Louis. Highway remained in his possession until at least October 1921, when it was shipped to the Daniel Gallery, New York, NY, for an exhibition of Bloch’s work. [“Exhibition of Paintings by Albert Bloch,” November 15–28, 1921, Daniel Gallery, New York, NY, cat. no. 32].
[2] In 1961, Highway was included in a retrospective exhibition of his work [“Albert Bloch,” Philbrook Museum of Art, March 7–31, 1961, cat. no. 7]. It was then the property of Bloch’s estate. Morton D. May corresponded with Anna Francis Bloch on April 2, 1974, about purchasing Highway, which was in Bloch’s estate at that time, and Mrs. Bloch shipped it to May from Lawrence, KS, for his approval by April 29, 1974 [SLAM document files]. Given the trajectories of other paintings in his estate, it seems likely that Highway remained with the Blochs from 1921 until 1961.
[3] Invoice dated May 6, 1974 [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum].
[4] Last Will and Testament of M. D. May dated June 11, 1982 [copy, May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum]. Minutes of the Acquisitions and Loans Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, September 20, 1983.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.