The Jake and Ruth Bloom Collection 
10 October 2024
The Jake and Ruth Bloom Collection 
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Jonathan Borofsky b.1942

Head in Trees

1986-87
enamel on aluminum, double-sided 39¼ h × 70 w × 10 d in (100 × 178 × 25 cm)
estimate: $15,000–20,000
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provenance: Paula Cooper Gallery, New York | The Jake and Ruth Bloom Collection
exhibited: The Reemergent Figure: Seven Sculptors at Storm King Art Center, 20 May - 31 October 1987, Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, NY
literature: The Reemergent Figure: Seven Sculptors at Storm King Art Center, Storm King Art Center exhibition catalog, ppg. 9-10

This work will ship from Los Angeles, California.

print

It became evident to me at a young age that life was about bringing two energies (if not many) together—preferably in balance—to create a greater energy.

Jonathan Borofsky

Sharpening the Edge

The Contemporary Art Legacy of Jake and Ruth Bloom

Thomas Ruff Studio, Portrait of Jacob Bloom and Portrait of Ruth Bloom

Married in 1965, Ruth and Jacob “Jake” Bloom purchased their first piece of art together in 1966—a Renoir print given as a gift to their inlaws. Over the course of the decades that followed, the couple would emerge as leading collectors and supporters of contemporary art in Los Angeles, voracious art lovers and philanthropists whose generosity and genuine passion for avant-garde artists helped shape the cultural cutting edge. Reflecting their deep involvement in post-World War II creative movements, The Jake and Ruth Bloom Collection features major works from Robert Longo, Marilyn Minter, Gregory Crewdson, among many others, and showcases the Blooms’ savvy, intrepid, and influential approach to the field of contemporary art.

“We inhaled art,” Jake once said. “We ended up with some very, very significant pieces in our collection.” 

While the term “power couple” might get thrown around, it is an apt descriptor for the Blooms: Jake was a legendary entertainment lawyer, who counted Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, and Jerry Bruckheimer among his clients. Bloom was among the founding members of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) Los Angeles, where Ruth would also serve on the board for more than a decade. Indeed, the pair would establish MoCA’s Ruth and Jake Bloom Young Artist Fund, which would help the institution acquire works from new emergent artists at pivotal moments in their careers. “We inhaled art,” Jake once said. “We ended up with some very, very significant pieces in our collection.” 

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