Martin Bloch
1940s
Following the outbreak of war, Bloch, along with other German nationals, was interned in 1940 as an enemy alien, initially in Huyton in Lancashire, and then in the Sefton Internment camp in Douglas, Isle of Man. He recorded his experiences in many drawings and, after his release, in the painting: 'Miracle in the Internment Camp' (1941).
Following his release from internment in 1941 he volunteered as a fire watcher for the Home Guard and he was given Ministry of Defence clearance to record bomb damage in the City of London painting a dramatic pair of scenes in the City: 'Survival' (1941) and 'Scorched Trees, City of London' (1943). He also recorded the more domestic effects of the Blitz: 'Kensington Roofs after the Fire-Raid' (1944) in Bristol City Art Gallery is a close up view of the burnt roofs against a eerie yellow sky seen from his flat, whilst 'Backs of Houses, Camden Hill Road' (1944) shows a barrage balloon floating above the houses. Refugee artists were also active outside London: Bloch was included in the seminal Jewish art exhibition at the Jewish Institute in Glasgow in December 1943. After the war Bloch continued to paint in England, with several paintings from 1946 dating from visits to Dorset including 'Blackmore Vale' and 'Cress beds near Shaftesbury'. Bloch became a British citizen in 1947 and in the years after the war visited and painted in France, America and Wales.

Miracle in the Internment Camp
1940

Dream of the Dragon
1940

Iris and Tulips
1941

St Mary Aldenbury, City of London
1941

African Mask
1941

Laburnum and May Trees
1941

Survival
1941

Flowers
1941

Self Portrait with Red Cap
1942

Kensington Roofs after a Fire Raid
1942

Fog in Mayfair Mews
1943

Scorched Trees
1943

Cherub's Head
1943-4

Dusk in Wartime London
1944

Still Life with Oriental Figure
1944

Allen Street
1944

Backs of Houses
1941-44

Campden Hill Road, London
1944

Blackmore Vale
1946

Blackmore Vale Against the Sun
1946

Clump of Trees
1946

Cressbeds Near Shaftesbury
1946

Down from Welsh Quarries
1948

Chestnut Trees
1949

The Mississippi at Minneapolis
1948-50

New Mexico Ranch
1949

From Colorado to New Mexico
1949