Their collection has never been seen in public. Until now, or June 9, that is, when the Bloch Building at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art opens to the public.
The exhibit, “Manet to Matisse: Impressionist Masters From the Marion and Henry Bloch Collection,” features 30 intimate paintings of flowers, bobbing boats on shimmering waters, graceful trees and lone individuals enjoying quiet, personal moments.
In all, it’s quite a cache.
But as Henry Bloch candidly admits, his venture into collecting did not get off to an auspicious start.
“I grew up at 58th and Wornall. My parents never had a painting in their house,” Bloch said during an April tour of the collection at his Mission Hills home.
“We bought their one and only painting at the Plaza Art Fair. I wasn’t exposed but all of a sudden decided we ought to have some art.”
His first purchase was a painting by the Dutch artist Isaak van Ostade.
“I had it sent to the Nelson, and when I went to pick it up, the conservator said it probably was by Ostade, but it had been completely repainted. It really had no value.
“That was a good lesson,” he said. “We decided to switch to French painting, because that was Ted’s area of expertise.”
“Ted” was Ralph T. Coe, who was director of the Nelson-Atkins from 1977 to 1982, after 11 years as the museum’s curator of painting and sculpture.
Coe advised the Blochs on every purchase. He helped ferret out singular works, telling them which ones to buy and which ones to pass on.
Their first Impressionist acquisition was a tiny — 5 1/2 by 9 inches — painting by Renoir of a woman leaning on her elbows. Another early purchase was a winter view of La Rue de la Princesse by Alfred Sisley.
“We bought for enjoyment,” Bloch said. “I’ve turned down so many. I didn’t want the house to look like a museum.”
Van Gogh’s “Restaurant Rispal at Asnières” (1887), a pride of the collection, hangs above the mantel in the Blochs’ comfortable pine-paneled sitting room off the living room. Upstairs, Berthe Morisot’s “Under the Orange Tree,” a portrait of the artist’s daughter, hangs above the couple’s bed.
“They’re like part of the family,” Bloch said. “There aren’t any we don’t like.”
Although husband and wife have different favorites — she loves Bonnard’s “The White Cupboard”; he’s partial to Sisley’s “The Lock of Saint-Mammès” — both had to agree on all the works they purchased.
But there was another powerful personage who had to approve what came into the house. That was the couple’s interior designer, Ted Graber, who’s best known for directing the remodeling of the family rooms of the Reagan White House.
“We had a large Monet of Parliament and the River Thames,” Bloch said. “Graber said, ‘Get rid of that picture.’ ”
Bloch obeyed and now rues the day.
“It’s a terrible thing he did,” Bloch reflected. “A similar painting recently sold for $20 million.”
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