Collection Spotlight

Collection Spotlight: Leon Lewandowski, “Picture of Cora Ward,” ca. 1950

Artist: Leon Lewandowski (American, 1932 – 2005)Titles: Picture of Cora WardDate: c.1950Medium: Gelatin silver printDimensions: 7 9/16 in x 7 1/2 in inchesCredit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, gift of Steve Nordman, 2017.10.2 Leon Lewandowski (American, 1932– 2005) has been described as a “forgotten street photographer.”1 Indeed, much of Lewandowski’s work did not see the light of […]

Read more
Collection Spotlight

Collection Spotlight: Dyani White Hawk, They Gifted (Day) and They Gifted (Night)

Artist: Dyani White Hawk (Sičáŋǧu Lakota / American, born 1976, Madison, Wisconsin)Titles: They Gifted (Day) and They Gifted (Night)Date: 2024Medium: Color screenprint on Lanaquarelle watercolor paperDimensions: 58 x 28 ½ inches eachCredit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Julie and Lawrence Bernstein Family Art Acquisition Fund purchase, 2025.7.1, 2025.7.2 From November […]

Read more
Collection Spotlight

Collection Spotlight: Soo Shin, Pas de Deux 3.13.24-4 (Pacific Ocean) 

Artist: Soo ShinTitle: Pas de Deux 3.13.24-4 (Pacific Ocean)Date: 2024Medium: Ink, Pacific Ocean water, paperCredit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Block Board of Advisors Endowment Fund purchase In 2024, Shin began work on Pas de Deux, a series of collaborative and experimental drawings. For these works, she constructed a floating wooden apparatus designed to fit […]

Read more
Collection Spotlight

Collection Spotlight: Candida Höfer, Biblioteca do Palácio Nacional de Mafra IV 2006 (Library of the National Palace of Mafra IV 2006)

Artist: Candida Höfer (German, born 1944)Title: Biblioteca do Palácio Nacional de Mafra IV 2006 (Library of the National Palace of Mafra 2006)Date: 2006Medium: Dye coupler print (chromogenic print)Dimensions: 61 × 69 1/4 inCredit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, gift of Ellen Philips Katz, 2025.3.3. Image copyright of the artist, courtesy of Ben Brown Fine Arts. In […]

Read more
Collection Spotlight

Collection Spotlight: Ken Fandell, “The Sky Above My Home (10/7/2002–6/14/2003, Chicago, Illinois)”

Artist: Ken Fandell (American, born 1971)Title: The Sky Above My Home (10/7/2002–6/14/2003, Chicago, Illinois)Date: 2003Medium: Inkjet print on paperDimensions: 58 1/4 in x 105 inCredit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, gift of Peter Norton, 2016.4.9 From October 8 to November 9, 2025, Ken Fandell’s photograph The Sky Above My Home (10/7/2002–6/14/2003, Chicago, Illinois) will be […]

Read more
Collection Spotlight

Collection Spotlight: Dawoud Bey, “A Woman and Three Children,” 1985

Artist: Dawoud BeyTitle: A Woman and Three ChildrenDate: 1985Medium: Gelatin silver printCredit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art Northwestern University, gift of Sari and James A. Klein in honor of Lisa Corrin and Peter Erickson, 2014.4.1 Dawoud Bey has spent decades capturing the vibrant narratives of Black American youth through thoughtfully composed photographs that transform everyday moments […]

Read more
Collection Spotlight

Collection Spotlight: Igshaan Adams, “Klip Gooi (stone throw) iii”

Artist: Igshaan Adams (South African, born 1982)Title: Klip Gooi (stone throw) iiiDate: 2021Materials: Wood, glass, gemstone, and semi-precious stone beads, metal charms, metal garden fence, chain, variety of metal wires (copper and brass), polyester and nylon rope.Dimensions: 110.79 x 28.74 x 36.61 inchesCredit: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, gift of James and Anne DeNaut […]

Read more
Collection Spotlight

Collection Spotlight: Karl Wirsum, “Dune Not For Saki” (1991) and “Swat Meet I” (2005)

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 […]

Read more
Collection Spotlight

Collection Spotlight: Lee Godie, “Figures [Staying Alive]”

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 […]

Read more