Artist: Karl Wirsum (American, 1939 – 2021)Title: Dune Not For SakiDate: 1991Medium: Color lithographCredit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, 1996.75 Chicago artist Karl Wirsum’s humorous imagination comes to life in the colorful lithograph Dune Not For Saki, exemplifying Wirsum’s individualization of characters that appear in his artwork. It features a green and turquoise female in a […]
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Artist: Mark Dion (American, born 1961, New Bedford, Massachusetts)Title: Chart 35, Anatomy of Global Warming Date: 2021Medium: Screenprint on Iris book cloth, stained maple dowels, screenprint on paperDimensions: 32 ¾ x 21.5 x â…ž inchesCredit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Block Board of Advisors Endowment Fund purchase, 2025.10.1 Mark Dion […]
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Artist: Lee Godie (American, 1908‒1994)Title: Figures [Staying Alive]Date: 1993/94Medium: Mixed media on canvasDimensions: 23 x 29 inCredit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, gift of Paul & Pamela Boneham, 2024.26 Figures [Staying Alive], a drawing on canvas by Chicago artist Lee Godie, features two figures: one portrait bust of a woman, and a full standing figure. On […]
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On April 17th, Block Museum Curatorial Coordinator Kirsten Lopez gave the final talk in The Block’s series focusing on objects in the collection that connect to Louise Erdrich’s novel The Night Watchman, the 2024-2025 One Book One Northwestern selection. In her talk, Lopez shared a photograph by photojournalist W. Eugene Smith, taken for his series […]
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Artist: Seba Calfuqueo (Mapuche, born 1991, Santiago, Chile)Title: Tray Tray KoDate: 2022Medium: Single-channel video, color, soundDuration: 6 minutes, 13 secondsCredit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, gift of Institute for Studies on Latin American Art (ISLAA), New York, 2024.27 Tray Tray Ko is a six-minute media artwork by Seba Calfuqueo, a […]
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On January 16, 2025, Terra Engagement Fellow Teagan Harris gave a virtual talk placing Shan Goshorn’s Cherokee Burden Basket: A Song for Balance (2012) in dialogue with Louise Erdrich’s novel The Night Watchman, the 2024-2025 One Book, One Northwestern selection. This talk is the second in a series exploring connections between works in The Block’s […]
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One Book One Northwestern is an annual university-wide reading initiative that aims to generate a campus-wide conversation centered around a thought-provoking book. The 2024-2025 One Book selection is Louise Edrich’s 2020 novel The Night Watchman. Each year, The Block partners with One Book to select and compile works from the permanent collection that connect to […]
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Artist: Fred Biesel (American, 1893–1955)Title: Untitled (Window Still Life) Etching PlateDate: 1929Medium: Copper etching plateDimensions: 4 in x 5 in.Credit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University,  Gift of Robert Alter and Sherry Siegel, 2024.20 Fred Biesel’s Untitled (Window Still Life) etching plate is a new addition to The Block Museum’s collection, […]
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Artist: Victoria Yau (Chinese-American,1939-2023)Title: Walk at DuskDate: 2009Medium: Watercolor on paperDimensions: 13 3/4 × 10 3/4 inCredit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Gift of Estate of Victoria Yau. “The creation of my artwork is like giving birth to my offspring. They are the daughters I never had…My emphasis is always to enrich the inner content of […]
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Artist: Kachelle Knowles (Bahamian, born 190)Title: Old People Drink At The Bar, Young People Drink in The StreetsDate: 2024Medium: Decorative paper, acrylic gemstones, graphite, ink, acrylic paint, colored pencils, and gouache on paperDimensions: 30 x 20 inchesCredit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, purchase funds provided by Allen-Niesen Family: Kim, Keith, Kelsey, and Kyle. Image © Kachelle […]
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