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Art Collector Donates His Paintings, But You Wouldn't Know It From The Walls

NPR
Published October 14, 2015 at 1:40 PM EDT
Henry W. Bloch and his wife Marion lived for years with a collection of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings. Bloch recently donated them to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and replaced the works in his home with replicas. (Julie Denesha/KCUR)
Henry W. Bloch and his wife Marion lived for years with a collection of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings. Bloch recently donated them to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and replaced the works in his home with replicas. (Julie Denesha/KCUR)

For nearly two decades, Henry Bloch – the ‘H’ in H&R Block – and his wife Marion, collected what they described as “pretty pictures” — mostly French impressionist works by the likes of Degas, Matisse and Monet.

Nearly 30 of these paintings filled the walls of their Mission Hills, Kansas, home. As Laura Spencer from Here & Now contributor KCUR in Kansas City reports, they are not there now – but you wouldn’t know it by looking.

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