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.