It’s been widely reported but let’s give the hometown paper, The Kansas City Star, the say as Henry Bloch, founder of H&R Block, accelerates a planned donation to the Nelson-Atkins Museum by giving 29 Impressionist works on the occasion of the museum’s 75th anniversary:
Their collection was shown for the first time publicly in the Bloch Building inaugural exhibition in 2007. “They’re like part of the family,” Bloch said of the paintings at the time. The couple spent more than 20 years buying works with advice from Ralph T. “Ted” Coe, director of the Nelson from 1977 to 1982 after 11 years as the museum’s curator of painting and sculpture. After forays into other areas, the Blochs’ main focus became impressionism. The couple’s first purchase was a tiny Renoir of a woman leaning on her elbows. Although Bloch said they bought for enjoyment rather than investment, he has conceded: “I couldn’t afford any of these pictures today.”
