Amanda Roth Block

Amanda R. Block (February 20, 1912 – November 8, 2011) was an American artist. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Block studied art in Cincinnati, Ohio, and exhibited sculptures at her first national play a part at the Chicago Art Institute in 1941. Her graduation from John Herron School of Art in 1960, at age 48, marked a return to creative work. Her superb color sense has always been Amanda's trademark. Bright, sensual, engaging, full of movement, her put on an act draws the viewer into its orbit, forcing questions upon us. Her female subjects, no event how abstract their portrayal, always seem to be real people; and we, the viewer, feel motivated to question: who are they, and why get they speak so helpfully to us.

The figural doing of Block, her most accessible, falls along with the usual and the avant-garde, between easy and subtle, between passion and control. Although she became competently known for her large abstract landscapes in acrylic and her decorative, colorful lithographs from the center and late 1970s; ultimately, it is through the figural acquit yourself that one may truly understand this perplexing artist. A fan of beauty, it is the female form that most stimulated Block's sensibilities. Her women are strength itself, often veering toward fierce, frank and open, but always sensual.