Collection Spotlight: Happiness (finally) after 35,000 years of civilization, Paul Chan

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Title: Happiness (finally) after 35,000 years of civilization Artist: Paul Chan Nationality: American, born Hong Kong, 1973 Date: 1999-2003 Medium: Single-channel digital video on mini-PC, color, with sound, 17:20 min Credit: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, gift of Peter Norton, 2016.4.8a A writer, activist, and artist celebrated for efforts in video, sculpture, performance and installation, Paul […]

Collection Spotlight: Frau an der Wiege, Käthe Kollwitz

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Title: Frau an der Wiege Artist: Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945) Nationality: German Date: 1897 Medium: Etching Credit: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, gift of Jack Brown, 1993.47 Käthe Kollwitz’s Frau an der Wiege (Woman at the Crib) is a powerful portrayal of the precarious living conditions of the working class in 19th-century Germany. The etching shows a woman positioned […]

Collection Spotlight: Pocahontas, 1976, Marisol

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Marisol (Marisol Escobar) (American, born in France, 1930-2016) Pocahontas 1976 Color lithograph Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, gift of Paul S. D’Amato, LS 1985.3.8  Image © 2018 Estate of Marisol / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Marisol was a Venezuelan-American sculptor active in the 1960s and 1970s pop art movement. […]

Collection Spotlight: Girl with Earring, 1961/1962, Milton Rogovin

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Milton Rogovin (American, 1909-2011) Girl with Earring from the series East Side, Buffalo, New York 1961/1962 Silver gelatin print Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, The Richard Florsheim Art Fund Purchase, 2000.25.16 Image reproduced courtesy of The Rogovin Collection, Forest Park, Illinois Milton Rogovin was a documentary photographer best known for his work […]

Collection Spotlight: Flamenco, Ed Paschke

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Ed Paschke (American, 1939–2004) Flamenco, 1991 Eight-color screenprint Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, purchase funds provided by Leigh and Henry Bienen, Sarah Pritchard and Neal Blair, and Lori and Ted Souder, 2008.22 Flamenco is a screenprint by well-known Chicago artist Ed Paschke. Paschke was trained at the School of the Art Institute […]

The Block Museum presents Paul Chan’s Happiness (finally) after 35,000 years of civilization

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Media artwork exploring philosophy, pop culture, and war on view July 17 – November 4, 2018 The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University announces a new exhibition highlighting a significant gift of media art to its permanent collection. From July 17 through November 4, 2018, the Block Museum devotes its first-floor gallery to the […]

Collection Spotlight: Constellation Exhibit 1959, Joan Miró

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Title: Constellation Exhibit 1959 Artist: Joan Miró Nationality: Spanish Date: 1959 Medium or technique: Color lithograph Credit: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, 1993.49, Copyright: © Successió Miró / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris In 1919, Joan Miró relocated from his native Spain to France, where he became associated with […]

Collection Spotlight: Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe

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Title: Patti Smith Artist: Robert Mapplethorpe (1946–1989) Nationality: American Date: 1986 Medium: Gelatin Silver print Credit: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, gift of Jeffrey H. Loria, 2015.7.3   Singer and poet Patti Smith was one of Robert Mapplethorpe’s earliest and most frequent photographic subjects, and over two decades he took many photographs of her. They […]

Collection Spotlight: Untitled (Chicago), Dawoud Bey

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  Title: Untitled (Chicago)  Artist: Dawoud Bey Nationality: American, b. 1953 Date: 1993 Medium: Polaroid, 24 x 40 inches Credit: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art Northwestern University, gift of Sari and James A. Klein in honor of Lisa Corrin and Peter Erickson, 2014.4.5a-b Chicago-based photographer and educator Dawoud Bey (b. 1953) was recently named a recipient […]

Collection Spotlight: Cherokee Burden Basket: Singing a Song for Balance, Shan Goshorn

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  Shan Goshorn (Eastern Band Cherokee, b. 1957) Cherokee Burden Basket: Singing a Song for Balance, 2012 Arches watercolor paper splints printed with archival inks, acrylic paint 18 ¾ x 18 ¾ x 23 ¼ inches Mary & Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, purchase with a gift from Sandra Lynn Riggs and members […]