A lithographer of some renown—Amanda taught lithography at John Herron for a number of years—the artist felt very comfortable in the complex and demanding medium of print-making. Her press was for two decades the only private lithograph press in the state of Indiana, donated to John Herron for her students upon her retirement.

 

Eschewing the often blocky and repetitive style of her contemporaries, not interested in the facile or geometrical designs running through the art of the day, Amanda’s prints fall vaguely into two categories. Figural art and landscape art, the two most common themes throughout all her work. Of the two, the figural pieces sing most loudly to us today. A lover of beauty, it is the female form that most stimulated Amanda’s sensibilities. Her women are strength itself, often veering toward fierce, frank and open, and always sensual. Broad swaths of color force the viewer to confront the subject on her own terms. These are real women, with real feelings.

 

Amanda’s editions are small, seldom more that a dozen prints per edition. Often however, each print required a dozen or more printings to layer the colors one upon, the other finally realizing the image Amanda required. Her washes are finely controlled and the juxtaposition between wash and line builds a tension that adds a third dimension to the effect.

 

Amanda R. Block’s large, abstract expressionist paintings were the cornerstone of her success in the late sixties and seventies. These large paintings sold very well at the time and adorned the walls of a large number of buildings and institutions of the day. Traditionally abstract expressionist and very much in the main stream of painting at the time, these large canvasses today have the effect of anchoring the viewer firmly in the times.

 

Spending several weeks each winter in Tucson, Arizona, with her husband, Maurice Block Jr., Amanda grew to love the desert landscapes and strong visual attributes of the area. The desert and its impact upon her became a common theme. She often did rough watercolors there, trying to capture the feeling and color palette of the unique place. Unfortunately, these studies do not survive, but their impact clearly inform her large abstract landscapes.

 

Amanda’s color sense and strong design also contribute to their effectiveness. Evoking the sensibilities associated with geography writ large, mountains and seas, lakes, rivers, forests, and always the desert were the subjects of her broadly realized art.