The Tree of Life by Hyman Bloom

The Alter Vitebsker have been asking me to go up to New Hampshire to see "the giant, the most important expressionist of the past hundred years" Hayman Bloom.

Hayman Bloom next to a custom made printing press in his studio.

Richard McBee writes Hyman Bloom's Journey: "In 1950 he is one of seven artists, including Arshile Gorky, John Marin, Jackson Pollack and Willem de Kooning to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale." John Updike remembers Hyman Bloom as a teacher at Harvard. And a partial list of list of museums that own Hyman Bloom paintings.

But enough with the introductions. Through the snowy Route 3 North, I went to see the master today. Hyman is 92, I found him in good spirits and clear mind. The quality of his work is indeed unmatched. His dense, magical intestinal forests, he calls them "Landscapes" are one of the few recurring themes of his art. He says: "Must be my memories of home in Latvia, there are no forests in the West End of Boston." His other theme is prime cadavers and decaying life. Hyman supersedes his lanzman Haim Soutine.

Old Woman Dreaming ["dying", Hyman corrects the subtitle from the University of Connecticut exhibit catalogue]

Hyman Bloom: "I went to the autopsies. The students who did autopsies offered me tools to dissect, if I taken them up on it I might have become at least a doctor. My mother had different ambitions for me to be doctor or a violinist. But I rather have a piece of paper and make drawings. I experience things just visually. It is quieter. Of course it was a lonely life. If you are serious in any field you don�t find� to meet your standards".

Hyman Bloom�s iconic theme of a Rabbi with a Sefer Torah is the defining religious image that hunted him throughout his life. "My Rabbi asked me what I want to become in America when I left Latvia, I was 7 years old then and I said I wanted to become a Rov. By here I am, I come back to a Jew who holds a Torah."

Hayman's wife Stella told me that a Swiss collector is interested in this painting. "If he wants to buy it, we will erase the chalk lines. Hyman always rearranges his paintings and the chalk lines are markings of a new composition". I asked Stella to leave the chalk; it shows the work�s dynamic progress.

UPDATE: Hayman Bloom - Rabbi Holding Sefer Torah
FILE: mentalblog.com's bookmarks tagged with "Hyman.Bloom" on del.icio.us