Bluemner’s diary entry for Approaching Black records the location as “end of a path” on the Bloomfield Canal and the idea as the “simplest setting of simplest forms of our surroundings in dramatic tension.” Approaching Black exemplifies Bluemner’s mature caseins and was among a large group that were shown in the last solo show held during his lifetime, a 1935 exhibition at the Marie Harriman Gallery called Compositions for Color Themes. Despite favorable reviews for his previous “Sun and Moon” pictures of the late 1920s, the exhibition resulted in disappointing sales. Yet in the years that followed he embarked on an ambitious series of paintings that paired even stronger color and deeper emotion. The late Harriman pictures stand out through Bluemner’s use of color to represent musical tones as he attempted to create the sensation of listening to music. He asked his audience to “Look at my work [as you would] listen to music,” referencing his favorite composers such as Bach, Beethoven and Liszt, to name a few. These works are based on sketches of ordinary structures in the familiar factory landscape and reveal greater symbolism with buildings representing the male presence and trees standing for the female role. Critic Margaret Bruening’s review calls to mind Approaching Black: “an orchestration of brilliant colors, usually played in the upper reaches of the scale with big crashing chords of black to sustain the theme.”