Research Catalog

Title

Stella Bloch papers, 1907-1999.

Author

Bloch, Stella.

Supplementary Content

Finding Aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. (Ananda Kentish), 1877-1947.
• Cukor, George, 1899-1983.
• Duncan, Isadora, 1877-1927.
• Eliscu, David.
• Eliscu, Edward, 1902-1998.
• Eliscu, Peter.
• Lehac, Ned, 1899-1999.
• Offner, Mortimer.
• Sherman, Jane, 1908-

Description

15 linear feet (34 boxes)

Summary

The Stella Bloch papers span the years 1907-1999 and include correspondence, writings (primarily diaries), personal papers, and photographs that document her career as both a performer and an artist.

Subjects

• Artists
• Eliscu, Peter > Correspondence
• Bloch, Stella
• Diaries
• Correspondence
• Offner, Mortimer > Correspondence
• Cukor, George, 1899-1983 > Correspondence
• Eliscu, Edward, 1902-1998 > Correspondence
• Lehac, Ned, 1899-1999 > Correspondence
• Eliscu, David > Correspondence
• Anti-communist movements > United States
• Women artists > United States > 20th century
• Dancers
• Sherman, Jane, 1908- > Correspondence
• Photographs
• Women dancers > United States > 20th century

Genre/Form

• Correspondence.
• Diaries.
• Photographs.

Source (note)

• Eliscu, David and Michael Coleman

Location of Other Archival Materials (note)

• Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
• Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University.

Biography (note)

• Artist and ethnic dancer Stella Bloch (1897-1999) had many varied and unusual accomplishments during her long and productive life.

Call Number

(S) *MGZMD 173

OCLC

122349345

Author

Bloch, Stella.

Title

Stella Bloch papers, 1907-1999.

Biography

Artist and ethnic dancer Stella Bloch (1897-1999) had many varied and unusual accomplishments during her long and productive life. Born in Tarnow, Poland, but raised in New York City, Bloch began to draw at an early age, but it was a performance of Isadora Duncan in 1914, that changed her life. Bloch became the first American student of the Isadorables, the six young women who served as the company of dancers for Duncan. At the age of 17, she accompanied the art historian Ananda Coomaraswamy on a trip to India and the Far East. While there, she learned the native dances of Bali, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, and Java. She spent a year in the palace of the Prince of Solo learning the Javanese dance. Upon her return to the United States, she performed these dances to enthusiastic crowds and headlined at the Eastman Theatre in Rochester, New York. Bloch married Coomaraswamy in 1922. It was his third marriage and it ultimately would end in divorce in 1930. While working on and off Broadway, Bloch met the lyricist Edward Eliscu and the two were married in 1931. They moved to Hollywood soon after their marriage, where both worked in the film industry for many years, later returning to New York in the 1950s after Eliscu had been blacklisted. The couple moved to Newtown, Connecticut in 1966, where they remained until the time of their respective deaths, a few months apart. Throughout her life, Bloch continued her art work. It was during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s that Bloch first had sketched and painted pieces that would later be hailed as her best; subjects include Josephine Baker, Bessie Smith, Thelonious Monk, as well as Harlem street scenes. One of her pieces was used as the logo art of the Broadway musical Black and Blue in 1989. Bloch's artwork also was featured in Dance Magazine and shown at many galleries. Beginning in 1983, she was represented by the Beaux Arts Gallery in Woodbury, Connecticut, where retrospectives were shown in 1996 and 2000.

Location of Other Archival Materials

See also Stella Bloch papers relating to Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (C0822) in the Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

See also Stella Bloch papers (MS Thr 460) in the Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University.

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Request Access to Special Collections (Dance Division) material

Finding Aid

Occupation

Artists.

Dancers.

Added Author

Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. (Ananda Kentish), 1877-1947.

Cukor, George, 1899-1983.

Duncan, Isadora, 1877-1927.

Eliscu, David.

Eliscu, Edward, 1902-1998.

Eliscu, Peter.

Lehac, Ned, 1899-1999.

Offner, Mortimer.

Sherman, Jane, 1908-

Research Call Number

(S) *MGZMD 173