Collection Spotlight

Collection Spotlight: Lowell Nesbitt, Moon Shot

Artist: Lowell Nesbitt (American, 1933–1993)Title: Moon ShotDate: 1969Medium: 8 color lithographs on black paperCredit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, gift of Marilyn Arnold Palley and Reese Palley, 1996.45.10–17 In 1962, James E. Webb, Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), noted in a memorandum that “…we should consider […]

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Collection Spotlight

One Book Collection Talk: Roland L. Freeman, Combing Hair, Amoke Alayoe and Her Children, Silver Spring, Maryland, June 1978

One Book One Northwestern (OBON) is a university‐wide reading program that aims to engage the campus in a common conversation centered on a carefully chosen, thought-provoking book. The Block is proud to partner annually with One Book to explore the themes of this shared text, selecting artworks from the museum collection that can broaden discussions. The […]

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Collection Spotlight

Collection Spotlight: Jacob Lawrence, The Life of Toussaint L’Ouverture

Artist: Jacob Lawrence (American, 1917 – 2000)Title: The Birth of Toussaint, from the series The Life of Toussaint L’OuvertureDate: 1986Medium: Color screenprintCredit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Gift of Evelyn Salk, in memory of her husband Erwin A. Salk, 2001.13.2. During the early 20th-century, the Harlem Renaissance was defined by a convergence of heightened geopolitical […]

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Collection Spotlight, Northwestern Learning

Collection Spotlight: Hendrik Goudt, The Mocking of Ceres, 1610

Artist: Hendrik Goudt (Dutch, ca. 1585 – 1648) after Adam Elsheimer (German, 1578 – 1610)Title: The Mocking of Ceres (also called Ceres Seeking Her Daughter)Date: 1610Medium: Engraving on paperCredit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, 2009.16 Hendrik Goudt’s The Mocking of Ceres (also called) from 1610 takes place in a dark and dense forest with tree […]

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Collection Spotlight

Collection Spotlight: Alberto Casado, Dicen que en la Talia (What They Say in the Talia)

Artist: Alberto Casado (Cuban, born 1970)Title: Dicen que en la Talia (What They Say in the Talia)Date: 1997Medium: Etching and aquatint and collageCredit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University,Gift of Curated Prints, Ltd., 1999.28.58 Standing on and around a teary-eyed portrait of Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara (Argentine, 1928–1967), a motley […]

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Collection Spotlight

Collection Spotlight: Motion #53, Laura Aguilar

Artist: Laura Aguilar (Chicana, 1959–2018)Title: Motion #53Date: 1999Medium: Gelatin silver printDimensions: 11 x 14 inchesCredit line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Julie and Lawrence Bernstein Family Art Acquisition Fund Purchase, 2023.3.1. Image copyright of The Estate of Laura Aguilar. The artist Laura Aguilar once said that she felt most comfortable in […]

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Collection Spotlight, Northwestern Learning

Depictions of Intimacy and Repose: Vitoria Monteiro de Carvalho Faria on Block internship installation

As part of her 2023 Block Curatorial Internship Vitoria Monteiro de Carvalho Faria conducted original research within the museum collection. Her investigation into the visual and thematic connections between two prints resulted in an installation in the Block’s conference space. Faria shares the intriguing alignment she curated at the museum. Although separated by 150 years, […]

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Collection Spotlight

Collection Spotlight: The Arabic Alphabet portfolio (1973), Hussein Madi

Artist: Hussein Madi (Lebanese, born 1938)Title: The Arabic Alphabet portfolioDate: 1973Medium: 30 etchings on cotton paperDimensions:  Each 30 x 24.4 cmCredit line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, gift of Sami Khalifé, M.D. As part of his varied practice, artist Hussein Madi has explored Arabic letters, words, and calligraphy. In The Arabic Alphabet (1973), a portfolio of thirty […]

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Collection Spotlight, Uncategorized

Collection Talk: Will Wilson “Shiprock Disposal Cell, Shiprock, New Mexico, Navajo Nation” (2020) [Video]

Throughout 2020-21 The Block Museum is reflecting on artworks from the collection that explore ideas of excess, consumption, and the environment, and offer an interdisciplinary perspective on the climate crisis. Our project is inspired by The Story of More by Hope Jahren, Northwestern University’s 2021-2022 One Book One Northwestern (OBON) selection. In this online talk, Lois Taylor Biggs, […]

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