Julius Bloch, Cement Works

A consummate draughtsman, Julius Bloch portrays the austere landscape of the cement industry in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley in this print. Bloch learned lithography from Theodore Cuno in Philadelphia in 1927 and employed the medium for satire and portrayals of the city and figures. No humans are present in this composition, which focuses instead on Precisionist geometries. Bloch depicts an active, industrious factory with smokestacks, train tracks, and power lines.

Bloch showed interest in other industries in the Commonwealth: in 1932, he visited the coal region in preparation for his painting of coal miners.