Albert Bloch was the only American member of the European modernist art group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), whose members sought to express spiritual truths through their art. "Nacht I (Night I )," inspired by the German city of Munich where Bloch lived, captures the optimism of the pre–World War I period in which avant-garde artists sought to transform viewers—and society—through art.

Bloch’s painting envisions the choice between the material and the spiritual that confronts all human beings. The top- hatted figures at the lower left look down at the material world and ignore the spectacular heavenly lights above. Only the figure at the rear, separated from his companions by an arcing ray of light, appears to pause and stand upright. Like the biblical figure of Saul, who is struck down by a light from heaven and converted to Christianity, this chosen one appears on the verge of being spiritually enlightened.