Block was born in
Bernstadt an der Weide (Bierutów) in
Prussian Silesia. He was a scholar of the
Breslau (Wrocław) Art Academy, where his lifelong friendship with German dramatist
Gerhart Hauptmann was established. He continued his studies at the
Munich Academy of Fine Arts; in the studio of his tutor Professor
Bruno Piglhein, Block was involved in painting Piglhein's Jerusalem Panorama. On 29 February 1892, the Society of Visual Artists of Munich was founded in his studio at Munich's
Theresienstrasse, which was to be the basis of the
Munich Secession, a movement of artists who felt that art was not sufficiently contemporary and open. This happened in preparation for the
World Columbian Exposition 1893 in Chicago, where Block won a medal for his painting 'Twilight'. In 1895 Block married Else Oppenheim, the daughter of banker and councilor of commerce Hugo Otto Oppenheim and a descendant of banker
Joseph Mendelssohn. After living in Munich until 1896 he moved to Berlin. He continued painting biblical histories, realistic genre paintings, portraits and still lifes, selling paintings in Germany and the United States. Further expositions include the Grand Berlin Art Exposition and
Paul Cassirer's parlor. Block was also a co-founder of the
Berlin Secession, a movement similar to the Munich Secession. Other members of the Berlin Secession include
Lovis Corinth,
Max Liebermann, and
Edvard Munch. Block liked traveling and was a passionate photographer. Block was persecuted by the
Nazis in 1933, due to his Jewish ancestry, and forced to sell paintings from his collection. His apartment at Derfflinger Str. 16 in Berlin was seized by the Generalbauinspektor under
Albert Speer. He died in Berlin in 1943. ==Selected works==