June 27 through September 28, 2019
A selection of major paintings and drawings surveying Bloom’s career
Alexandre Gallery is pleased to present a selection of major paintings and drawings by Hyman Bloom (1913 – 2009) in celebration of the artist’s retrospective at the MFA, Boston , opening July 13th, and the publication of a new monograph Modern Mystic: The Art of Hyman Bloom  by Henry Adams, Robert Alimi and Debra Bricker Balken (distributed by DAP). Alexandre Gallery is the exclusive representative of Hyman Bloom’s estate.
Hyman Bloom , Untitled (Landscape) , 1990, oil on canvas, 72 x 55 inches

Bloom’s oeuvre is captivating for his incandescent, jewel-toned treatment of mystical and corporeal matters that range in style from painterly realism to semi-abstract expressionism. His work draws upon his immigrant heritage, interest in Eastern religions, and themes of death and human mortality. In his paintings of human corpses, skeletal fish and trees, archeological excavations, synagogues, Christmas trees, jewels and stones, Bloom explores underlying form and contemplates concepts of beauty and spirituality, of life and death.

Spiritual life cannot be delegated; true spiritual experience can only come from within, and it is only through individual effort to deepen the process that a state of grace can be achieved. — Hyman Bloom
Hyman Bloom, A Leg With Skull , 1979, oil on canvas, 32 x 70 inches

In the 1950s, Hyman Bloom was described as “the first Abstract Expressionist,” and while few art historians would describe him as such today, the identity of the two figures who used this phrase should prompt us to give this thought some serious regard: Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, who both clearly saw in Bloom’s painting something inspiring, something that prefigured their own artistic achievement. Franz Kline likewise singled out Bloom, along with Thomas Eakins and Albert Pinkham Ryder, as one of the few American artists whose work had a weight and gravitas that he admired. Surely if Pollock, de Kooning and Kline admired Bloom, we also should take a second look. — Henry Adams
American Art also on view by appointment
Romare Bearden , Early Carolina Morning , 1978, collage on board, 29 x 41 inches
Viewing Room

August gallery hours by appointment only

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