Asian Works of Art

David Ludwig Bloch (1910–2002) was a German-born American ceramicist and visual artist whose work reflects both exquisite technical mastery and a life shaped by displacement. Born in Floss, Germany, Bloch attended Munich’s renowned School of Applied Arts, where he trained in commercial and fine art before being dismissed under Nazi anti-Jewish policies. In November 1938, he was arrested during Kristallnacht and transported to Dachau concentration camp, where he remained until his release the following year. Shortly thereafter, he was expelled from Germany and emigrated to Shanghai, one of the few places that accepted Jewish refugees without a visa.

In Shanghai, Bloch re-established his artistic career, working as a designer for local printing and advertising firms while continuing to produce paintings and prints documenting the refugee experience. After the war, he immigrated to the United States in 1949, settling in New York and later Massachusetts. There, he became a respected ceramic artist, developing innovative forms and glazes and exhibiting widely across the country.

Bloch’s later work frequently returned to themes of memory and survival, including a series of stark, expressionistic prints depicting Kristallnacht. His art has been collected and exhibited by institutions such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Leo Baeck Institute, and the Jewish Museum Berlin.

上世纪三、四十年代，为了逃避纳粹法西斯对犹太人的种族清洗，两万多德国、奥地利犹太人背井离乡来到上海避难，年轻的艺术家大卫·布鲁赫就是其中的一个。

布鲁赫1910年生于巴伐利亚Floss 小镇，自幼失去了父母，三岁时又因生病失去听力，童年时在慕尼黑皇家聋哑学校学习手语，后来考入了慕尼黑实用美术学院学习设计和版画。他曾和德国女孩玛莎相爱，生下女儿麗蒂娅，但纽伦堡法案严禁德国人和犹太人通婚，他们不得不分开。1938 年11 月9 日希特勒发动“水晶之夜”，布鲁赫和成千上万的犹太男人一起被关进达豪集中营。被释放后他只身乘船逃亡到日本占领的上海，在这个陌生的东方城市領略到中国人友善。

他没有着迷于十里洋场的歌舞升平，而是用画笔和木刻刀记录了老上海的民俗风情。在一次聋哑人的聚会上，布鲁赫遇到上海女孩郑小姐，他们用手语交流，1946 年成婚，几年后移民美国。布鲁赫2002 年下世，留有数百幅绘画和木刻版画，大部分是他在上海的九年当中制作的。關於他的作品與生平，參見加籍华人导演、中央美术学院电影与影像艺术系创建系主任王水泊2018年完成的紀錄片《大卫·布鲁赫》(David Bloch)。