Albert Bloch had his first bigger exhibition together with Paul Klee at Herwarth Walden‘s "Sturm" gallery in Berlin in March 1916. In context of this exhibition the Berlin press praised Bloch‘s works in comparison with those from Klee so much that Bloch felt prompted to set up a letter of protest which was eventually released in Walden‘s magazine "Der Sturm". It is all the more regrettable that Bloch destroyed a large part of paintings from his expressionist early period at a later point. The early death of his friend Franz Marc in 1916 in World War I was a dramatic event and a bitter loss for Bloch, however, the same year he made friends with the young painter Emmy Klinker – a private contact that would play a key role in his private life. She came from the Rhineland to study under the American artist in Munich. Our painting is dedicated to her. The painting “Stammgäste“ (Regulars) is part of Bloch‘s impressive expressionist early period and was made shortly after Bloch returned to the USA. It is not only a document of his socio-critical post-war style with a remarkable art historic value, but also a visualization of his friendship with the "Sturm" artist Emmy Klinker, with whom Bloch spend the last months of March 1921 in Munich. The utterly expressive composition of the discussing "Stammgäste" seems to anticipate George Grosz‘s "Stützen des Gesellschaft" (Pillars of Society, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin) from 1926 in terms of motif and arrangement of the depicted persons. Our work is one of the few paintings from Bloch‘s patron Richard Klinker, Emmy Klinker‘s father, which survived the 1943 air raids unscathed, as Emmy Klinker wrote in a letter to Albert Bloch to Lawrence, Kansas: "Among the works that survived are`Interieur` from late 1920, `Straße` 1921. `Stammgäste` February 1921 and an undated red and green composition of a small house in a garden." (Quote after: A. Hoberg, Albert Bloch in München 1909 bis 1921, ann. 69, p. 78, in: Albert Bloch. Ein amerikanischer Blauer Reiter, Munich 1997). Bloch painted the mentioned painting "Interieur", as well as "Stammgäste" after his return from Ascona toMunich and dedicated it to Emmy Klinker. It is part of the collection of the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich and is also characterized by the expressive figure conception and the composition‘ s warm and bright colors. [JS]