Lucienne Bloch

Frida and Diego Kissing

1933

Lucienne Bloch was a prolific artist. Born in Switzerland, she soon moved with her family to America amid the growing tensions of war and anti-Semitism in her native country. At the young age of 15, Bloch attended the Cleveland Institute of Art and later in life enrolled in the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts in Paris. Excelling in her artistic endeavors, Bloch worked for a number of established artists such as sculptor Antoine Bourdelle and architect Frank Lloyd Wright. However, it was Bloch's encounter with Mexican muralist Diego Rivera and painter Frida Kahlo that solidified her artistic style. Bloch became a close friend of the couple, and later, Bloch was the chief photographer of the Rockefeller Center mural Diego Rivera was working on in New York before it was destroyed. In addition to her photographs, Bloch was a fresco muralist for the Federal Arts Project of the Works Progress Administration from 1934 to 1939. She continued to teach and work until her death in 1999. (Biography provided by PDNB Gallery)