Before there are none of us 'old Camberwellians' left I wanted to write something about one of my favourite Camberwell teachers. I was 16 years old in 1949 when the German expressionist painter, Martin Bloch arrived to teach at Camberwell School of Art having fled Nazi Germany. His warm European, ebullient manner was instantly popular among students who were missing recently departed inspirational tutors; John Minton (for the Royal College) and William Coldstream (for the Slade). Martin was unlike other teachers in that he didn't hold with the traditional barriers between student and teacher and where other teachers could be rather stiff and formal with students Martin encouraged debate, he told us things about his life, having rubbed shoulders with Edvard Munch as a student in Berlin and we felt we could argue with him freely without repercussion. One example was over the Hollywood film 'Julius Caesar'. We students applauded Marlon Brando's performance whereas Martin argued for a more classical actor. Martin had a great sense of humour and made us laugh when he made fun of other teachers who could be very strict, though it probably didn't help with other staff who could be rather hostile. Martin had a huge impact on me with his painting style, he greatly encouraged imaginative ideas and colour (rich but subdued shades) liberated from tonal contrasts. A painting made in the 1960s directly influenced by him that has remained a favourite is Shad Thames.
Sadly by the time I came out of RAF service Martin had died.
To find out more about Martin Bloch's life and see some of his beautiful work visit The Martin Bloch Trust. Here you can see work from the different periods of his life from the ominous 1930's paintings from Germany and Italy (where in 1933 he was declared a degenerate artist), the poignant painting from being interned as an enemy alien at the start of the war, through to being commissioned by the Ministry of Information to document London's war damage and later his stunning works from his travels through America and England and Wales. Martin's work is held in a number of public collections including; The Tate Gallery, Government Art Collection, Leicester Arts and Museums Service, Leeds Museums and Galleries, the Ben Uri Gallery amongst many others.
