On the Block

One of the most inspired observers of America's social eccentricities, Jack Levine is renowned for his uniquely modern style of Social Realism that he infused with satirical wit and enchantment equal to Old Master artists Honoré Daumier and William Hogarth. Levine's oeuvre encompasses social satirical pieces exposing the foibles and corruptible sins of mobsters and politicians, underworld characters and even high society. On the Block is the largest work in a series of paintings in which Levine bitingly comments on the New York art scene, a world that Levine maneuvered through and felt alienated from for nearly five decades. The artist explains: "I've painted a group of these people at the auction. All of them are potential bidders, some of whom have established signals to the auctioneer. One figure has his finger up his nose, which is presumably a bid; another has his thumbs in his ears and is about to twiddle his fingers. The point is that we don't know if they are bidding or not--only the auctioneer knows. It looks a bit like an eccentric ballet. Most of the figures are completely invented, but I've included my three consecutive dealers over the fifty years that I've been showing in New York, with an expression of dislike for each one of them." (as quoted in Boca Raton Museum of Art, American Modernism: Paintings from the Dr. and Mrs. Mark S. Kauffman Collection, exhibition catalogue, Boca Raton, Florida, 2003, p. 66)

Levine's crowd of bidders in the present work includes several renowned art world personalities. "Like every insider's joke, only those familiar with the contemporary art world, its dealers, museum trustees, artists, and collectors, will be able to recognize their faces. Christie's Auctioneer Christopher Burge presides over the heated bidding of an audience that includes: Edith Halpert (art dealer, opened The Downtown Gallery, 1926); Larry Fleischman (Kennedy Galleries); Charles Allen; artist Andy Warhol; Figel Vesti (victim in Andrew Crispo murder case); Alfred H. Barr, Jr., (founding director/guiding genius Museum of Modern Art); art dealer Leo Castelli; art historian Meyer Shapiro; Joseph Hirshhorn (industrialist, art collector, Museum founder); Roy Neuberger (investor, philanthropist, art collector)." (American Modernism: Paintings from the Dr. and Mrs. Mark S. Kauffman Collection, p. 66)