Choir Notes

Art That Speaks to the Soul
From Music and the Spoken Word
Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell • Program 4245

Great and talented people often struggle with disappointments and self-doubt. Though surprising, perhaps it’s no coincidence, for those very hardships help to inspire and shape their talent.

This was the case for world-famous artist Carl Bloch. Considering his rich legacy and the acclaim that followed him throughout his career, one might think he was confident and self-assured. In fact, he was often beset by anxiety and doubt. As a youth in 19th-century Denmark, he failed the entrance exam for the naval academy, disappointing his parents and himself. But as a result of this failure, he was able to pursue his real passion: art.

In time, Bloch was commissioned to create 23 paintings on the life of Jesus Christ for the Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark. This commission, along with other large paintings depicting scenes from the New Testament, established Bloch as a noted religious painter whose warm and compassionate style was well received.

Yet despite his notoriety, Bloch still felt keenly his inadequacies. This led him to work diligently to perfect his craft. But it also had a more subtle effect on his artwork. Because he was sensitive to his own weaknesses, he developed empathy for the weaknesses of others. Because he understood how it feels to worry and doubt, he was able to capture such emotions in his subjects—an anxious father, a grieving mother, a downtrodden beggar. His depictions strike us as authentic and compassionate because Carl Bloch sympathized with the people he painted.

This is why Carl Bloch’s paintings still speak to our minds and our hearts. As one art historian wrote: "The manifestations of Bloch’s sensitive and genuine character set him apart as a compelling painter. … His compassion for the lonely and downtrodden informed his tender depictions of those who suffered. … And his faith in God strengthened him and allowed him to paint with the depth of feeling that speaks to the soul.”1

1 Dawn Pheysey, The Master’s Hand: The Art of Carl Heinrich Bloch (2010), 45.

1 In Suzy Platt, ed., Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1993), 277.